2,000 inmates riot at South Texas prison Medical care reportedly the issue

Law enforcement officials from a wide variety of agencies converge on the Willacy County Correctional Center in Raymondville, Texas on Friday, Feb. 20, 2015 in response to a prisoner uprising at the private immigration detention center. A statement from prison owner Management and Training Corp. said several inmates refused to participate in regular work duties early Friday. Inmates told center officials of their dissatisfaction with medical services. (AP Photo/Valley Morning Star, David Pike) less Law enforcement officials from a wide variety of agencies converge on the Willacy County Correctional Center in Raymondville, Texas on Friday, Feb. 20, 2015 in response to a prisoner uprising at the private ... more Photo: David Pike, Associated Press Photo: David Pike, Associated Press Image 1 of / 3 Caption Close 2,000 inmates riot at South Texas prison 1 / 3 Back to Gallery

About 2,000 inmates housed at the Willacy County Correctional Center rioted Friday in protest of medical services, officials said.

Two officers and three to five inmates reportedly received minor injuries in the violent demonstration that officers were working late into Friday evening. Immigrants convicted of federal crimes serve their prison sentences at the correctional center.

Willacy County Sheriff Larry Spence said local, state and federal agencies are patrolling the gates of the prison, which is mostly under control of the offenders, with a few sections retaken by authorities.

Spence said the situation could last the whole weekend.

“It’s calm right now, but with caution,” Spence said. “It could explode any minute.”

The incident began at breakfast, when several inmates refused to leave their housing units for the meal, according to a news release from Management and Training Corp., which manages the facility.

By 12:15 p.m., the facility was on lockdown as officers met with offenders to try to resolve the conflict. About 45 minutes later, many offenders broke out of the housing structures and went to the recreation yard.

Inmates set fire to three of the 10 prison tents, causing minor damage, officials said. The facility is made up of 10 Kevlar domes that went up in summer 2006, and is commonly referred to as a “tent city.”

“There’s been some shots fired. Guards on top of the tower were firing. What they were using as ammunition, I have no idea,” Spence told the Valley Morning Star.

About 2,000 inmates were involved. An additional 1,000 inmates, housed in a separate facility, weren’t involved. Tear gas was reportedly used to bring the situation under control.

The incident forced the soft lockdown of three schools and the cancellation of sports practices and after-school activities.

Issa Arnita, a spokesman for the facility, said some inmates did set “small fires” during the riots that damaged the facilities.

No inmates had tried to breach the perimeter fences of the prison as of 6 p.m.

In June 2014, the American Civil Liberties Union released a study that found inmates of these little-known prisons suffer from a lack of medical care.

The report focused on five Texas prisons with the capacity to hold more than 10,000 immigrants. There are 13 such facilities in the country.

Prisoners interviewed by the ACLU complained of delayed medical care, guards using solitary confinement to punish those who are ill or who complained about squalid and cramped living conditions, and interference by prison officials with inmates trying to correspond with or meet with lawyers, the report says.

Most of those in custody are charged either with illegally re-entering the country or with nonviolent drug crimes, the ACLU reported. Some were in the U.S. on visas or green cards before their arrests.

Staff Writers Jacob Beltran, Jason Buch and Michelle Cassady contributed to this story.