A group of Lutheran bishops who toured the Pamunkey Regional Jail yesterday expressed confidence in its staff but also concern that illegal immigrants detained at the facility are housed among felons.

The bishops visited the jail in Hanover County with representatives from the Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy and the Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, a Baltimore-based nonprofit group that seeks fair treatment of refugees and other immigrants.

The Rev. Julian Gordy, bishop of the Southeastern Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, chided the federal government for "dealing with the immigrant issue by locking people up." He was one of 10 people on the tour.

"Some of the folks there have not committed any sort of crime," Gordy said of detained immigrants, many of whom violated federal law by being in the country illegally. Yet they are in jail "with people who are murderers."

Capt. Mary N. White of the Pamunkey jail said immigrant detainees would not be housed with a murder suspect unless the detainee had a serious criminal background or was behaving violently in jail. Such detainees, as does every inmate, undergo a classification process to determine the level of security they should be placed in, she said.

The Pamunkey jail employs about 130 people and holds up to 435 inmates. It is one of more than 300 facilities across the nation that detains immigrants for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, most of whom are awaiting deportation proceedings. Nationwide, 311,213 immigrants were detained in the fiscal year ended Sept. 30.

Pamunkey has been housing immigrant detainees since 1999 and holds an annual average of about 70 per day and as many as 100 at a time. ICE pays the jail about $50 per prisoner per day. The state gets a portion of that money.

Eric B. Sigmon, assistant director for legislation for the Lutheran immigration group, said members chose to tour Pamunkey because of its proximity to Washington and the number of detainees it holds.

At one point yesterday, the bishops peppered jail officials with questions as they stood in a pod among more than 30 gawking inmates in navy-blue jumpsuits.

Among other things, bishops and members of the Immigration and Refugee Service asked jail officials if detainees' families are allowed to visit, and they wondered if the jail provides adequate medical care. Officials replied yes to both questions.

White said jail officials are supposed to notify ICE before sending sick patients to outside medical facilities, but that in dire medical situations, the jail does so without approval and hopes to get reimbursed later. That policy pleased members of the Lutheran group.

"It appears to be a very humane place," Gordy said after taking the tour. "But it's a jail."
Contact Reed Williams at (804) 649-6332 or rwilliams@timesdispatch.com.