The women have been subjected to prolonged detention, including repeated transfers from county jail to county jail. The overall capacity of the facility is approximately 300 inmates. The detention center does not clearly delineate the male and female sections of the facility. Detainees are moved around to meet the facility's space needs on any particular day. This means that women may be housed in close proximity to male detainees, although locked doors separate them.
All detainees wear prison uniforms, and are shackled when they leave the facility.
Advocates reported that one woman refuses to go outside because she is so intimidated by these searches. They say she was subjected to spousal abuse in China. In addition, the women have been placed in solitary confinement for minor rules infractions. Chi was in solitary for five days for having failed to use a pencil sharpener properly. Zheng was in solitary at the time of the visit, having been moved from the cell in which the other Chinese women are held into a solitary cell because she had had an argument with a fellow detainee.