You don’t have to go to Guantanamo Bay to witness flagrant human rights abuses by the U.S. government — just take a short trip to the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma, Wash., where detainees can earn $1 per day from GEO Group, Inc., the private company contracted to manage the Detention Center.

“The hardest part isn’t being detained,” said John Doe*, a former detainee, “but rather, when you’re free, how to reconstruct your life outside the Detention Center.”

The majority of Americans — Democrats, Republicans and Independents alike — ranked arrests and deportations last as a solution for illegal immigration, according to a Los Angeles Times / Bloomberg survey.

More than 280,000 immigrants are detained each year, costing more than $1.2 billion annually, a figure that supports private corporations and county prisons through U.S. government contracts, according to the Detention Watch Network. There are more than 400 facilities across the United States that house detainees.

“It’s a business,” Doe said. “The only reason they let me go was because my friend paid.”

Similar to the International Business Machines Corporation gaining customers during the Holocaust, package delivery services through FedEx and DHL help the Northwest Detention Center connect to the outside world. However, detainees have little outside contact. Their visitors talk over a phone, separated by a glass window, similar to prisons. Their conversations are limited to a measly 30 minutes, with a maximum of three hours weekly.

“If your family’s undocumented, they don’t know what’s going on,” Doe said. “They’re afraid to visit.”

Nearly 12 million undocumented immigrants live in the United States, according to The Immigration Policy Center. Undocumented workers comprise up to 25 percent of the agriculture and construction workforce and 5 percent of the national workforce. Undocumented workers are punished more often than employers who hire them.

“We’re treated like delinquents when our only crime is being undocumented,” said John Smith*, a current detainee. “You don’t have the right to be here when you have a deportation order.”

Upon entering the Detention Center, I faced a billboard with rules for visitors, who to contact for complaints and lawyers for detainees. The visitor dress code reminded me of my grade school restrictions: no cut offs, tank tops, transparent clothes, gang colors or sexually explicit clothing.

Detainees aren’t informed of their rights, Smith said.

In addition, they can only purchase products inside the Detention Center. Friends and family can only buy calling cards inside or give money. Food, clothing and other gifts aren’t allowed, and detainees aren’t obligated to work but can for a $1 per day.

“Sometimes the food isn’t enough or you get bored of the same thing,” Smith said. “One works out of necessity.”

Smith has lived in the U.S. for 14 years, nine of them with his American partner and their 9-year-old son. When Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials handcuffed him from his home, his son was sleeping while his partner watched.

“How do I support my family?” Smith said, referring to the dollar-a-day wages. During the economic recession, his family can’t afford to visit him often, he said.

The majority of undocumented immigrants, nearly 60 percent, have lived in the United States for at least eight years, according to the Immigration Policy Center. Several news polls in California, Iowa, Ohio, New Jersey, Texas, Florida and other nationwide polls show that the majority of Americans support a path to citizenship for immigrants who don’t have a criminal record and who are already living in the United States.

Unfortunately, not everyone supports that path. While waiting in line to visit my friend in the Detention Center, the official at the front counter joked, “Are we having fun yet? Is that what we came here for?” I cringed at the humiliation and degradation he joyfully displayed.

When Smith reminded ICE officials that he has a son, one official told him, “I don’t care about your son.”

“They play mind games,” Smith said. “Some officials mistreat you if you ask for help.”

Detention centers and deportation policies tear families apart, cause irreparable psychological damage, hurt our economy and deny human beings the rights we all deserve — citizen and non-citizen alike.

“Alone your voice isn’t heard but united it is,” Doe said.

And united against these prisons I hope we stand.

*Names have been changed to protect person’s identity.

Reach columnist Marissa Beach at opinion@dailyuw.com