Overview

The Torrance County Detention Facility (TCDF) is a CoreCivic ICE detention facility in Estancia, NM (Torrance County, FIPS 35057). It has a long history of oversight failures, a 2022 in-custody death, and a 2022 DHS Inspector General finding so severe that federal officials recommended removing all detainees.

Like Cibola, TCDF switched to a direct federal contract with ICE to bypass the Immigrant Safety Act (HB9).

Key Details

• Operator: CoreCivic
• Location: Estancia, NM (Torrance County, FIPS 35057)
• Contract type: Now direct federal (CoreCivic ↔ ICE), no longer county-intermediated

Death + IG Report History

• In August 2022, Brazilian asylum seeker Kesley Vial died by suicide in TCDF custody. CoreCivic and Vial’s estate settled a wrongful death suit in January 2026 rather than go to trial.
• In 2022, the DHS Inspector General told ICE to move everyone out of TCDF after finding conditions “unsafe and unsanitary.” ICE responded less than a month later by moving more people in.
• Detainees across Torrance, Cibola, and Otero have reported rotten/moldy food, sewage water in cells, insufficient drinking water, and misuse of solitary confinement.

County Exit + Direct-Federal Bypass (2026)

• Feb 4, 2026: Torrance County extended its ICE contract the day after the Legislature voted to ban such agreements (HB9).
• March 27, 2026: Documents showed the county’s intent to certify a final extension, with ICE expected to move to a direct CoreCivic contract afterward.
• The federal government issued a sole-source / no-bid contract with CoreCivic covering Torrance and Cibola, effective May 1, 2026, removing the county as a party so HB9 no longer applies. The facility remains operational.

Why It Matters

TCDF combines New Mexico’s worst detention-conditions record (death, IG removal recommendation) with the same direct-federal bypass that kept Cibola open. A facility that federal oversight itself once said should be emptied is instead being preserved through a no-bid contract that routes around a state ban.

Sources

• ICE — Torrance County Detention Facility
• Innovation Law Lab — Torrance County Detention Facility Timeline
• Source NM — Torrance extends ICE contract day after Legislature votes to ban (Feb 4, 2026)
• Santa Fe New Mexican — Torrance, Cibola await no-bid ICE details to keep facilities open
• AILA — Deaths at Adult Detention Centers
• CoreCivic — Torrance County Detention Facility