San Marcos — They aren’t hard core criminals, after all. Just people who crossed a border in order to make a better life.

That’s what Caldwell County Commissioner Pct. 4 Joe Roland is trying to explain to his constituents in the wake of a proposal from a private prison operator to build an immigrant detention facility in a rural area of the county between Lytton Spring and Dale.

“I’m going out to try to educate the community more about it,” Roland said. “I think right now people don’t understand what is being offered to us.”

The plan was pitched to the Caldwell Commissioners Court Dec. 10 by the Louisiana-based Emerald Correctional Management LLC.

Emerald proposes to build a $30 million, 1,000-bed facility that would house men and women separately until they could be deported back to their country of origin.

A company spokesman told commissioners that funding would come from private sources and that the facility would bring in 200 to 225 jobs and have an annual payroll of $4 million to $5 million.

A series of public hearings would be held before any vote, and Roland said the court isn’t scheduled to meet again until the second Monday in January.

“We’re just in the talking stages right now. We’re a long ways from deciding anything,” he said.

Roland said the jobs the facility would bring would include not only jailers but transportation and medical staff as well.

He said the facility would house those whose only crime is entering the country illegally for the first time. “They’re not here to do crime, they’re here to try to get a job,” he said. “These are first time offenders and their only crime is they came here illegally.”

After a stay at the center, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) would “rotate” them out, Roland said.

He said he and Pct. 1 Commissioner Tom Bonn are “wading the waters” with residents near the proposed facility. “We’re talking to the people it’s going to directly impact, the area between Dale and Lytton Springs. We want them to know what we’re talking about — that this is not an ordinary prison.”

Roland said he’s gotten a lot of calls, some from residents with the wrong concept. “They’re thinking these are criminals that might break out. When I sit down and talk to them they become more receptive.”

Another issue that would have to be worked out is water supply, Roland said, because it’s estimated the facility would use 80,000 gallons a day.

“That’s a lot of water, and one of the things we’ll have to determine.”

Emerald operates similar facilities in La Salle, Hudspeth and Haskell counties.

“This is in a very early stage. We’re nowhere close,” Roland said.



amiller@sanmarcosrecord.com