WE ALL PREFER WORKING TOILETS: The Department of Homeland Security Inspector General is calling for the “immediate relocation” of all detainees from an ICE facility in New Mexico on account of water leaks, clogged toilets, and mold. ICE strongly opposes this recommendation.

I can’t say how bad things are at this particular facility. But I suspect that if clogged toilets cause immigration detention facilities to be evacuated, we’re going to see a sudden spike in clogged toilets.

For what it’s worth, when my fellow commissioners on the Commission on Civil Rights and I made an official visit to immigration detention facilities, one of the facilities we saw was surprisingly nice. The other, though hardly lovely, was clean and orderly.   One of the detainees at the second facility told us that if they would let him out on Sundays, he wouldn’t mind staying indefinitely. My progressive colleagues were … uh … a bit surprised. It was amusing.