Community members hold vigil to get Dona Ana County detention facility reopened

Members of Communities in Action and Faith held a vigil Wednesday asking officials to reopen Dona Ana County’s juvenile detention facility as soon as possible.

As ABC-7 previously reported, a severe shortage in staff is why county officials chose to temporarily close the facility back in May.

The vigil by CAFE was at 5:30 p.m. in front of the detention center.

Since the juvenile facility temporarily closed its doors this May, all children have been held in the east wing of the adult facility, separate from the other inmates. About a week ago, County Commissioner Billy Garrett told CAFE members he believes the juvenile center should reopen in a year. Now, CAFE leaders want to hold their public officials accountable.

“What can be more urgent then moving children of young ages down to 12 and younger from an adult facility to a facility that’s oriented to working with children?” Hilbert Daiho, a supporter of CAFE, said.

“It should be the 16th of May. It should be open, that’s a year. I don’t know what the things are that need to be done but I think there should be a sense of urgency,” Commissioner Billy Garrett said.

Jail Administrator Chris Barela says they’re currently working on filling staff vacancies. He says they’ve raised staff pay to help retention rates. New officers will have an increase from $11.50 to $12.50 an hour. Existing officers will get an annual 2.5% increase. He says they’re also recruiting new officers and the academy recently graduated 18 cadets.

But the longer they have to wait, some fear it can have a lasting negative impact.

“A child of that age being put in a facility like that where they have minimal care is traumatizing,” Daiho said.