MTC to operate new Willacy Co. Texas illegal immigrant detention facility

Willacy County Texas commissioners have entered into a contract with Management & Training Corporation through which the federal government could pay the county as much as $13 million a year to house 2,300 illegal immigrants.

On Thursday July 6, 2006 commissioners entered into the contract with MTC to operate a new $50 million detention center to be deployed as part of the national crackdown on illegal immigration.

As part of the two-year contract with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the county will sell about $50 million in bonds to fund construction of the detention center. It will be operated by MTC, which also operates a 525-bed county-owned prison in Willacy County .

In the project's first year, the federal government will pay the county $79 a day for each prisoner it houses. The government will pay the county $78 a day per prisoner in the project's second year. Most of that money will pay the detention center's operating costs.

As part of the agreement, the county will keep $2.25 a day for each of the first 1,800 prisoners. The 1,800-inmate count would generate $1.4 million, records show.

Once the inmate population exceeds 1,800, the company will pay the county $50.25 a day for each prisoner over the 1,800 mark. A 2,300-inmate count would generate $10.6 million a year, records show.

If the federal government extends its contract into a third year, it will pay the county $45 a day for each prisoner. Of that amount, the county would keep $16.25 a day per prisoner. By then, the county would have repaid its $50 million debt, so a 2,300-inmate count could pay the county as much as $13.6 million a year.

(Posted 7/7/06)

More News