A massive, low-slung industrial building in Tacoma, Wash., the Northwest Detention Center is the fourth-largest immigration facility in the United States, generating millions in revenue for its private operator by processing thousands of deportation cases each year. An in-depth look at how NWDC came to be built here and how it quietly tripled in size in little over a decade reveals the heart-rending tales of immigrants facing deportation like Oscar Campos Estrada and their families that have become common in a post-9/11 world.
Center of Detention is a collaboration between The News Tribune and InvestigateWest.
Jason was InvestigateWest's associate director. A veteran of technology projects and online strategy for the nonprofit sector, he is a graduate of Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs and Graduate School of Journalism.
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In other parts of the country, the welfare checks have resulted in children being taken out of their homes and put back into government custody
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