The Torrance County Detention Facility has been operating without a contract since Halloween, when the latest agreement between Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the county expired.

Immigrant advocates said Thursday that means the Estancia facility is operating without legal authority, and the hundreds of detainees being held there are falsely imprisoned and should be released per ICE’s own policies.

Torrance County Manager Jordon Barela confirmed the expiration of the contract Thursday. He said the county had been negotiating a new contract with ICE throughout October and expected a short-term contract extension until a deal was concluded. But on Oct. 31, ICE informed the county there would be no extension, Barela wrote in an email.

“I believe that some of these issues are relate

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