Gambini radio interviews on his ICE story

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Phil Gambini’s report Wednesday for Investigative Post documented how ICE mistreats immigrants released from the federal detention center in Batavia.

He discussed the story Thursday morning with Jay Moran on WBFO .

Gambini was also interviewed by Susan Rose on  NewsRadio 930WBEN.

Investigative Post reported that detainees are commonly released from the facility without coordinating with their attorney or family. Instead, they are routinely dropped off at a nearby gas station that doubles as a bus stop. The buses have sometimes come and gone for the day, forcing released detainees to find alternative transportation or wait overnight in the elements for the next bus.

Here’s how Matt Thompson, an Army veteran who works at the gas station, described how detention center employees treat immigrants when they’re dropped at the station.

“They drop them off and they treat them like animals. They kick them out of the van, pretty much, and that’s it.”

Immigrants, he said, are treated with less respect than is typically afforded prisoners released from local jails or the Attica Correctional Facility.

“Some of those people are in jail for actual crimes. But when they get dropped off, they get treated like regular human beings,” he said. “Why can’t people from the ICE center get treated the same way?”

Wednesday’s story is a continuation of Gambini’s coverage of the ICE detention facility, which is presently plagued by one of the highest COVID-19 infection rates of any ICE center in the nation.

• Infections spike among immigrant detainees.
• Immigrant detainees describe poor conditions.
• Lawyers protest dangers at detention center.

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