Officials begin evacuating immigration detention center

PORT ISABEL - Evacuation preparations for Tropical Storm Dolly were under way at an news/" class="autolink">immigration detention center here, but officials wouldn't say when a decision would be made about leaving.

Tuesday morning, plastic bins lined the hallways in the medical intake area. The bins were loaded with necessary medical supplies, office equipment and personal protection gear.

Marc J. Moore, a San Antonio-based field director for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Detention and Removal Operation, said the Port Isabel Detention Center has gone through various kinds of evacuation drills since February. None of the individual detainees were involved in the evacuation trials, Moore said.

Staff at the facility, which can house 1,200 adult men and women detainees, has been talking with detainees about the possible evacuation.

"We want to make sure the detainees know what's going on," Moore said. "Some haven't been in a hurricane or even an evacuation situation."

Moore said he would make the decision on whether to evacuate after coordinating with state and government officials.

Tuesday morning, Moore said he could not discuss if any detainees had been evacuated, nor could he provide the number of detainees in the facility on Tuesday.

Intake in the facility, though, has stopped, he said.

"We'll see," Moore said when asked the probability of an evacuation. "We have to ask ourselves, ‘What's the storm doing today?'"

In the meantime, there was plenty of activity going on behind the scenes in the facility.

"We're always preparing for the worst," Moore said.

For health administrators, a five-step process was initiated, taking 36 hours, officials said. A record of each detainee has already been distributed either electronically or by hardcopy, officials said.

The food service area of the facility was packing meals for the road.

"We're always working as if we're going to evacuate," he said.

The first concern for the agency is for the detainees and staff.

Plus, he added, "If nothing happens, then who cares?"