{"id":47504,"date":"2026-03-23T00:00:25","date_gmt":"2026-03-23T00:00:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ifvmzch5jx.wpdns.site\/?p=47504"},"modified":"2026-04-17T16:19:05","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T16:19:05","slug":"immigration-lawyers-struggle-with-communication-at-oklahoma-facility","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rivasassociates.com\/es\/in-the-news\/immigration-lawyers-struggle-with-communication-at-oklahoma-facility\/","title":{"rendered":"Los abogados de inmigraci\u00f3n tienen problemas de comunicaci\u00f3n en un centro de Oklahoma"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>WATONGA, Okla. (<a href=\"https:\/\/kfor.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">KFOR<\/a>) \u2013 Immigration attorneys have said they\u2019ve been having problems contacting clients behind the doors of the Diamondback Correctional facility in Watonga.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese families are paying for our services, and we can\u2019t provide those services if we can\u2019t communicate with the client or the facility,\u201d said attorney Braxton Coil of Rivas &amp; Associates.<\/p>\n<p>The Oklahoman was the first to report the issues seen. They spoke to several attorneys and advocates who expressed concern that the facility operated by CoreCivic hampered essential services and vital legal consultations in a rush to accommodate federal mandates.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was absolutely rushed. Absolutely, it was rushed. That place was not taken care of, and it wasn\u2019t properly thought out,\u201d said Coil.<\/p>\n<p>Diamondback began taking in immigrant detainees in December, and in a quarterly conference call with investors in February, the operator announced that it complied.<\/p>\n<div class=\"nlp-ignore-block article-content rich-text\">\n<aside class=\"promo-link\"><a class=\"promo-link__link\" href=\"https:\/\/kfor.com\/news\/local\/ice-plans-large-detention-facility-in-oklahoma-city-prompting-backlash\/?ipid=promo-link-block1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">ICE plans large detention facility in Oklahoma City, prompting backlash<\/a><\/aside>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re confident that the detention beds we provide are the most humane, most efficient logistically, and the most secure,\u201d said a CoreCivic spokesperson during the call.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr1_ab\">\n<div class=\"ad-unit__content\">\n<div id=\"acm-ad-tag-mr1_ab-mr1_ab\" data-slot=\"{&quot;is_oop&quot;:false,&quot;is_companion&quot;:true,&quot;sizes&quot;:[[[1280,0],[[300,250],[620,366]]],[[1024,0],[[300,250],[620,366]]],[[768,0],[[300,250],[325,204],[325,508]]],[[641,0],[[300,250],[325,204],[325,508]]],[[0,0],[[300,250],[325,204],[325,508]]]],&quot;size&quot;:[300,250]}\" data-unit=\"\/5678\/nx.kfor\/news\/local\" data-fbonly=\"false\" data-refids=\"\" data-not-refids=\"\" data-targeting=\"{&quot;kw&quot;:&quot;immigration-lawyers-struggle-with-communication-at-oklahoma-facility&quot;,&quot;pos&quot;:&quot;mr1_ab&quot;,&quot;fold&quot;:&quot;atf&quot;,&quot;category&quot;:&quot;local&quot;}\">The private prison operator is set to rake in revenue regarding the immigration crackdown. Their new biggest operator is now ICE.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<p>The new contract at Diamondback is reportedly for five years, with annual revenue for CoreCivic expected to be $100 million, and detainees are set to begin in early 2026. They\u2019ve poured in, and the operator said that they expect to be filled up halfway through the year.<\/p>\n<p>Coil said it is the rush to open the doors that has caused the issue they\u2019re seeing now.<\/p>\n<p>She said that they have had someone go to Watonga in person after trying to call over and over again.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr2_ab\">\n<div class=\"ad-unit__content\">\n<div id=\"acm-ad-tag-mr2_ab-mr2_ab\" data-slot=\"{&quot;is_oop&quot;:false,&quot;is_companion&quot;:true,&quot;sizes&quot;:[[[1280,0],[[300,250],[620,366]]],[[1024,0],[[300,250],[620,366]]],[[768,0],[[300,250],[325,204],[325,508]]],[[641,0],[[300,250],[325,204],[325,508]]],[[0,0],[[300,250],[325,204],[325,508]]]],&quot;size&quot;:[300,250]}\" data-unit=\"\/5678\/nx.kfor\/news\/local\" data-fbonly=\"false\" data-refids=\"\" data-not-refids=\"\" data-targeting=\"{&quot;kw&quot;:&quot;immigration-lawyers-struggle-with-communication-at-oklahoma-facility&quot;,&quot;pos&quot;:&quot;mr2_ab&quot;,&quot;fold&quot;:&quot;atf&quot;,&quot;category&quot;:&quot;local&quot;}\">\u201cThey had no way to arrange that, no way for us to even have any type of communication with the clients. We asked for a phone number, and we asked for a tour of the facility. None of those things. Nothing,\u201d said Coil.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<p>Your tax dollars partly go to the facility, as the Oklahoma Department of Corrections is a sort of middleman when it comes to the CoreCivic contract in Watonga.<\/p>\n<p>Coil said that when they called in their complaint, someone at CoreCivic said that they had had a hundred complaints for the same issue that day.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s ridiculous,\u201d said Coil.<\/p>\n<p>According to CoreCivic, attorneys should be able to go for an in-person visitation. They pointed to recently completed construction to \u201cprovide a safe, secure area for in-person visitation and private phone booths for confidential legal calls. In\u2011person attorney visitation resumed March 2, and is available seven days per week, from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., including holidays.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>News 4 asked CoreCivic what attorneys should do who still can\u2019t get ahold of their clients or family members.<\/p>\n<div class=\"nlp-ignore-block article-content rich-text\">\n<aside class=\"promo-link\"><a class=\"promo-link__link\" href=\"https:\/\/kfor.com\/news\/local\/okc-mayor-says-landowners-pull-out-of-deal-to-sell-to-ice-for-an-okc-detention-center\/?ipid=promo-link-block2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">OKC Mayor says landowners pull out of deal to sell to ICE for an OKC detention center<\/a><\/aside>\n<\/div>\n<p>CoreCivic said, \u201cIt is also important to know that legal representatives have had and will continue to have the option to request video teleconference (VTC) meetings or confidential legal phone calls with their clients or prospective clients.\u00a0All appointments for VTC meetings or phone calls should be made 24 hours prior to the desired appointment time. Appointments are scheduled 8 a.m. \u2013 4 p.m. weekdays, 8 a.m. \u2013 1 p.m. on weekends and holidays, and are in 30 to 60-minute increments.<\/p>\n<p>To support continued access to legal counsel, DCF has recently implemented the Virtual Attorney Visitation (VAV) Program. VAV facilitates confidential attorney-client conversations through virtual technology. They provide a free, timely, efficient communication alternative between attorneys and their clients.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr3_ab\">\n<div class=\"ad-unit__content\">\n<div id=\"acm-ad-tag-mr3_ab-mr3_ab\" data-slot=\"{&quot;is_oop&quot;:false,&quot;is_companion&quot;:true,&quot;sizes&quot;:[[[1280,0],[[300,250],[620,366]]],[[1024,0],[[300,250],[620,366]]],[[768,0],[[300,250],[325,204],[325,508]]],[[641,0],[[300,250],[325,204],[325,508]]],[[0,0],[[300,250],[325,204],[325,508]]]],&quot;size&quot;:[300,250]}\" data-unit=\"\/5678\/nx.kfor\/news\/local\" data-fbonly=\"false\" data-refids=\"\" data-not-refids=\"\" data-targeting=\"{&quot;kw&quot;:&quot;immigration-lawyers-struggle-with-communication-at-oklahoma-facility&quot;,&quot;pos&quot;:&quot;mr3_ab&quot;,&quot;fold&quot;:&quot;atf&quot;,&quot;category&quot;:&quot;local&quot;}\">DCF is working to implement ICE\u2019s Detention Facility Appointment Scheduler (DFAS). DFAS is an online scheduling system for managing legal visits and provides a secure process for both detention facility users and legal representatives to schedule and manage legal visitations.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<p>CoreCivic remains committed to maintaining safe, secure, and humane operations and to supporting appropriate access for attorneys, family members, and other authorized visitors.<\/p>\n<p>We take concerns raised by stakeholders seriously and continue to evaluate operations to ensure compliance with contractual obligations and applicable regulations.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMaybe move them if it\u2019s not possible to release, the ones that need to be released. Move them to facilities where we are going to have access to speak with them and not hold detainees in that facility until they are up and running and completely able to have communication with clients,\u201d said Coil.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>WATONGA, Okla. (KFOR) \u2013 Immigration attorneys have said they\u2019ve been having problems contacting clients behind the doors of the Diamondback Correctional facility in Watonga. \u201cThese families are paying for our services, and we can\u2019t provide those services if we can\u2019t communicate with the client or the facility,\u201d said attorney Braxton Coil of Rivas &amp; Associates. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":123470,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[329],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-47504","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-in-the-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rivasassociates.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47504","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rivasassociates.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rivasassociates.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rivasassociates.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/123470"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rivasassociates.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47504"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rivasassociates.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47504\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rivasassociates.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47504"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rivasassociates.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47504"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rivasassociates.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47504"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}