Austin (1080 KRLD) - Last month, Governor Abbott ordered inmates at the Briscoe Unit in South Texas to move to other prisons in order to make way for people caught after crossing illegally into Texas. More than a thousand inmates were transferred.
He said that those who crossed the border into Texas would be subject not only to arrest by federal agents but would also be held for state crimes including trespassing and human trafficking.
Michele Deitch, distinguished senior lecturer at the LBJ school of public affairs at UT Austin says prisons are for people who have been convicted of a crime, and a prison doesn't become a jail just because someone changes the name on the door.
"It is run by a different entity, it's operated under a different authority," said Deitch. "There are different laws that apply to it and there are different standards that apply. I don't think that anyone has really thought through all the implications of doing what the governor has proposed doing."
She says jails in Texas have to be air-conditioned. Prisons do not. The Briscoe Unit does not have air conditioning.
"Jails in Texas are county-operated and they are governed by the minimum standards promulgated by the Texas Commission on Jail Standards," said Deitch. "One of those jail standards is the requirement that those facilities be climate controlled. There are plenty of other requirements that govern the operations and staffing and training requirements for jails."
Deitch adds this seems like a short-sighted and poorly thought out proposal; "to take a prison facility and designate it as a jail for people who are not dangerous and don't necessarily need to be locked up and put the entire operation at risk of breaking the law."
She adds one of the biggest problems is that the Texas Department of Criminal justice is already "dangerously understaffed."
Related
LISTEN on the Audacy App
Sign Up and Follow NewsRadio 1080 KRLD