(thoughtful music) (resolute music) - Welcome to The Newsfeed, I'm Paris Jackson.

Across the country, there's an air of secrecy around what happens in ICE detention centers.

In Tacoma at the Northwest ICE Processing Center, volunteer organizations have long worked to bridge service gaps and monitor detainee treatment throughout the immigration enforcement system.

But as Cascade PBS's Jaelynn Grisso reports, those groups now face an increased urgency amid federal efforts to expand deportations.

- [Jaelynn] On a drizzly day, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement released a few detainees from the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma, including a man we will refer to as H. - Hey, welcome.

- Hey, welcome.

- Thank you very much.

How are you doing?

- Good.

How are you?

- [Jaelynn] Without a clear idea of why he was detained and with a baby on the way, he excitedly exited the secured gate after several weeks in detention.

- So yeah, we'll help you out down here.

- You know, I think that is my brother.

After I got released and I saw my brother outside, my family outside, that was phenomenal, to be honest.

Like, yeah, like, thanks God.

It's done.

It's over right now.

- [Jaelynn] Meanwhile, volunteers from Advocates for Immigration in Detention Northwest, or AID Northwest, greeted the other detainees released that day.

Volunteers post up outside of the detention center three days a week.

- When someone is released from this facility, either on bond or having been granted asylum or given just a stay of removal, they come out through this gate right here.

- But the detainees come from all over the country.

And so if the volunteers weren't here, they would walk out into a community many of them have never been to before.

- You know, there are no signs on the roads around here to bus stops or bus stations.

So there is really a severe need for these people to get help as soon as they're released so that they don't fall through the cracks and end up just stuck.

- [Jaelynn] H said he didn't get much information while inside about being released or his case.

- You want to ask the ICE a question.

You want to like see your case, like what's going on, and there is no response for weeks.

- [Jaelynn] A spokesperson for GEO Group, the company running the detention center, provided a written statement in response to Cascade PBS questions about protocols for informing and releasing detainees.

The statement said, "GOE's services are carefully monitored for quality by ICE personnel, who are onsite 24/7, and other entities within the Department of Homeland Security."

A big part of how AID Northwest fills in the gaps is by providing material goods, like clothes, food, and shoes.

- It's very common for them to be released wearing only the clothes they were given by the facility, which are usually a little dirty at this point, and are also just not that nice or comfortable.

All of these have been donated.

- [Jaelynn] AID Northwest also collects information about detainee releases, and Perkinson said he's seen patterns over time.

- [Aidan] So in the first week after the inauguration, we did not see a lot of change.

However, after that first week, the number of people being released dropped sharply.

- [Jaelynn] For additional comparison, 94 detainees were released during February and March last year, but just 27 were released this year during that same period.

H walked away from his detention reunited with his family.

Although he remains under GPS monitoring, he described feeling giddy because it meant he could be with his wife when their baby is born.

- [H] I just want to be out.

I just want to be next to my wife, next to my baby.

(thoughtful music) - Thank you, Jaelynn.

Next week, we'll continue our series by telling you about flights bringing ICE detainees into King County.

I'm Paris Jackson, thank you for watching The Newsfeed, your destination for nonprofit Northwest news.

Go to cascadepbs.org for more great local coverage.

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