Torrance County ICE detainees say tap water causing skin problems amid local water emergency

The water shortage afflicting the town of Estancia has coincided with a spike in water quality complaints from immigrant detainees at the nearby Torrance County Detention Facility, according to a immigration lawyer who conducts weekly jail visits.

Tiffany Wang, a staff attorney at Contigo Immigrant Justice, told Source NM this week that she has heard from at least five detainees during legal aid visits in recent weeks that the water they use for showers has caused skin irritation, including rashes. 

Another detainee, Roney Pereira, 55, told Source NM in a recent phone interview from the facility that he believes the water has caused rashes and skin irritation and increased his hair loss. The Brazilian detainee, held at the jail for roughly a year, said a doctor at the facility largely dismissed his concerns when he visited her about two weeks ago.

“My hair…dropped, and my skin is terrible,” Pereira said in English, which is not his first language. He said the facility’s doctor told him to limit the number of showers he takes to “maybe two times per week.”

Officials from CoreCivic, which owns and operates the facility, did not respond to Source NM’s repeated requests for comment this week on Pereira’s allegations and the water situation generally. But CoreCivic spokesperson Ryan Gustin told Inside Climate News recently that the company has increased the amount of drinking water it ships in from elsewhere and that operations were unaffected otherwise. 

A spokesperson for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, which contracts with CoreCivic to hold roughly 350 detainees at the facility, also did not respond to Source NM’s emailed request for comment Friday. 

In late June, Town of Estancia trustees voted to declare a water emergency due to alarmingly low levels of water in city storage tanks, authorizing emergency procurement and repairs to prevent taps from running dry across the town of roughly 1,300 people. 

The order prompted city officials to reduce the detention facility’s intake from the city’s water system. Local officials have described the facility as the town’s biggest water customer in a municipal system that diverts roughly 85% of all its water to commercial purposes, according to the Mountainair Dispatch news outlet.

Estancia trustees and Torrance County commissioners did not return Source NM’s requests for comment this week. Estancia Mayor Runnel Riley, who has taken a leave of absence, also could not be reached for comment. 

The water that detainees say is causing health issues comes not from drinking water, which is available in water jugs throughout holding pods, but instead from sink taps in cells and showerheads in bathrooms. 

Wang and Pereira said detainees generally avoid drinking tap water due to its odor and cloudy appearance. 

“I think everything that I hear is just that it seems off, right? Like the water just does not seem like water that would be either potable or even safe to put on your body,” Wang said. 

Jerry Tindell, who works at the Bean Valley RV Park in Estancia, said water pressure has increased in recent days and he’s eager for the situation to resolve. He noted that village officials are planning to drill a new well in mid-August to increase the water supply.

The village’s emergency order authorized it to pursue a roughly $5 million grant from the New Mexico Water Trust Board to drill an additional municipal well. 

“I’m sure we’ll be fine after that,” Tindell said.