Donald W. Wyatt Detention Facility

The Donald W. Wyatt Detention Facility is a private-enterprise prison in Rhode Island. It is operated by the Central Falls Detention Facility Corporation.^[1] The facility stirred controversy in April 2009 following the death of a prisoner, when the chairman of the corporation that runs the prison, defended the prison with a comparison with the United States' Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba.

Hiu Lui "Jason" Ng an immigrant from China was the captive who died.^[1] Although the official cause of his death was cancer, he was also reported to have been abused in captivity.

The United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency withdrew its remaining 153 prisoners from the facility following an inquiry into his death.^[1] The inquiry found that the prison authorities withheld his anti-cancer medication when he was too ill to crawl to his cell door to receive them, and that prison guards dragged him down the hallways, even though the prison doctors' opinion was that due to his fragile health he should be transported using a wheelchair.

The prison was built in the town of Central Falls, which contributed funds towards its construction.^[1] The prison was hoped to generate employment to replace industrial jobs from closed textile mills, although very few to no people from around the area are employed at the facility. Consequently the town's Mayor, Charles Moreau had the authority to fire the corporation's chairman Charles Cooney. He fired Cooney for the comment: "Frankly, I’m looking at it like I’m running a Motel 6. I don’t care if it’s Guantanamo Bay. We want to fill the beds."

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d} "RI mayor fires prison leader for Guantanamo remark". Boston Herald. 2009-04-28. Archived from the original on 2009-04-29. http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bostonherald.com%2Fnews%2Fnational%2Fnortheast%2Fview%2F2009_04_28_RI_mayor_fires_prison_leader_for_Guantanamo_remark%2Fsrvc%3Dhome%26position%3Drecent&date=2009-04-29.