For years, human rights organizations have warned that some immigrants released from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention centers were forced to pay disproportionate taxi fares to leave the facilities. Now, a journalistic investigation points to an alleged scheme that could involve a driver and an officer at a private prison in Mississippi.

According to an investigation by The Mississippi Independent, complemented with information from El Molino Informativo, public records, social media posts and text messages link taxi driver Otis Anderson to Tameka Moore Anderson, lieutenant at the Adams County Correctional Center, managed by the company CoreCivic. Although there have been no criminal charges so far, the revelations revived complaints from organizations that have been warning for years about possible abuses during the process of releasing people detained for immigration reasons.

Excessive charges to recently released immigrants

Louisiana Advocates for Immigrants in Detention (LA-AID) maintains that many immigrants were forced to pay between $200 and $600 for trips lasting just a few minutes to bus stations or nearby transportation points, despite the fact that ICE regulations establish that, when there is no accessible public transportation, the centers must offer free transfers.

“It's a threat we've heard many times,” said Frances Kelley, LA-AID project coordinator. As he explained, some detainees received warnings that if they did not pay for the assigned taxi, they could face problems leaving the center.

One of the most recent cases involves a juvenile released from the Adams County Correctional Facility. According to messages obtained by the investigation, a driver identified as “Anderson Taxi” requested a payment of $300 before transporting him and other passengers. The young man's relative expected him to be taken to a bus station located about 13 minutes from downtown, but the driver assured that the destination would be the Baton Rouge airport, about two hours away.

Investigation points to possible links with center staff

The report also documents that Otis Anderson shares a home with Tameka Moore Anderson, who has worked for 17 years at the detention center and is identified in social media posts as a lieutenant in the area in charge of receiving and releasing detainees.

For immigrant rights advocates, this connection is relevant because the staff of that unit is responsible for the detainee release process, including the delivery of belongings and the coordination of transportation.

Consulted by The Mississippi Independent, Otis Anderson declined to answer questions about the accusations and only indicated that he would not comment on the case. For their part, Tameka Moore Anderson, the center's director, and CoreCivic also did not respond to requests for information sent by the outlet.

Organizations demand an investigation

LA-AID says it filed complaints with federal authorities and members of Congress for approximately five years, arguing that several detention centers failed to comply with regulations on transportation for released people.

The organization claims to have helped nearly 20,000 immigrants over the past few years, providing them with transportation, food, temporary housing and support in contacting their families. However, its members maintain that many affected people avoid reporting out of fear or because they want to get away from the detention system as soon as possible.

The case is also reminiscent of other similar schemes documented in the United States. The investigation cites a federal prosecution in New York, where several men were convicted of extorting asylum seekers through abusive charges for taxi services. Meanwhile, civil organizations are asking that authorities review the complaints in Mississippi and determine whether a network existed to take advantage of immigrants in one of the most vulnerable moments of their immigration process.