The building is located at the Immigration and Naturalization Service s Port Isabel Processing Center near Bayview, which already houses some 900 detainees in older, barracks-style buildings. When the new building is occupied in a few weeks, the center will be the largest of its kind in the United States. By the year 2000, the INS expects to have completed three other dormitories to replace barracks that date back to the World War II era. Each of the pods has showers, restrooms, beds, vending machines, washing machines and a television behind plexiglass. The immigrants will be allowed out of the pod for a few hours so they can play soccer or basketball.
Meals are in a dinning hall.
In addition to housing people detained for being in the country illegally or violating the terms of their immigration permits, the center is also the workplace of approximately 150 people, said administrator Roel M. Delgado. Employees include cooks, processing clerks and managers, Delgado said. Most others are processed in 20-30 days, he said. The INS assigns one employee to each pod at all times to prevent disturbances. Each pod is monitored at a central viewing station though electronic cameras.