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The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention section of Kankakee's Jerome Combs Detention Center almost looks like a summer camp. There's a main floor and a mezzanine level, both packed with bunk beds. There are public showers, shielded from view by curtains, with men standing outside toweling themselves off.

But instead of campers, the facility is filled with men from across the world, from China to Haiti and Pakistan, almost all boarder violators, all awaiting deportation. And instead of T-shirts and shorts, these illegal immigrants wear standard issue jumpsuits.

The Kankakee ICE facility, which opened in October 2015, brings in $80 per day per detainee for Jerome Combs. Watched by guards on the other side of a wall of tinted glass windows, these detainees spend their time in Kankakee awaiting deportation back to their home countries.

While the detention center is in our county, many of us don't know much about the detainees and their daily lives.

There are about 10.9 million undocumented immigrants in the U.S. The number has fallen every year since 2008, as immigration from Mexico slows down. According to a 2014 Pew Research Center Survey, about two-thirds of those undocumented immigrants are in the workforce, mainly in farming and construction. About two-thirds of undocumented immigrants have lived in the U.S. for more than 10 years. Detainees are held in 112 detention facilities across the country.

At any given time, there are about 100 male detainees being held at Jerome Combs. When the ICE facility opened, the first detainees were Haitian. Since then, many nationalities have been represented.

"The detainees I talked to were all border violations," said Kankakee County Sheriff Mike Downey. "That's probably the biggest legal question out there. Are they really criminals? And I don't know the answer to that."

Detainees are brought to Kankakee from across the country, many of them from California. None of the people housed there are from Kankakee County, and ICE is not performing any raids in the area.

What happens to them after they leave Kankakee?

Once a week, ICE officers arrive early in the morning to transport some of the detainees from Kankakee to the Gary/Chicago Airport via bus. From there, they're sent to facilities across the country for further processing and eventually deported to their home countries.

What are the conditions like at the detention center?

ICE detention centers are held to very specific standards and are subject to inspection. Higher grades on inspections mean the facility receives more money per detainee.

"The three most important aspects ICE looks at are medical care, food service and safety and security, and we meet all three of those things," said Downey.

During a recent inspection, Jerome Combs received a favorable review, though it was asked to make a few changes to ensure the food served to detainees was higher calorie and at a higher temperature.

Downey is pleased with the detention center's performance.

"These folks are going to be housed somewhere, and we want them to be treated as well as we'd treat our family," he said. "If you do that, you can't go wrong."

More here:
How are illegal immigrants treated? - Kankakee Daily Journal