Lawsuit alleges Doña Ana jail ran 'violent training operations' on inmates

The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit Thursday against the Doña Ana County Detention Center alleging “violent operations” occurred at the facility — including excessive force and pointing a Taser at inmates’ genitals.

According to the lawsuit filed in 3rd Judicial District Court, the detention facility, which can house nearly 900 inmates, allowed a group of security officers to conduct training operations against inmates.

The security officers, called the Special Operations and Response Team (SORT), are described as a group of corrections officers trained to handle “high-risk situations” including riots, evacuations and other situations that “fall outside the abilities of regular officers,” according to the lawsuit. SORT has been operating at the jail since 2019.

SORT officers are comprised of Doña Ana County corrections officers and are not “certified law enforcement officers,” according to the lawsuit. Private company Tactical and Operations Group of the United States provides training for the officers.

Doña Ana County declined to comment on the suit and said they are representing themselves in court, according to county spokesperson Ariana Parra.

The lawsuit states that SORT officers would point a Taser at inmates’ genitals during strip searches. Officers would tell inmates that if they made any sudden movements or were in possession of contraband, the Taser would be used on them.

Many of the inmates at the facility are state and federal pretrial detainees, meaning that they have not been convicted of a crime and are awaiting a trial. Inmates are often transferred to another facility if they are convicted and handed a prison sentence.

“These unwarranted and abusive operations at the Doña Ana County Detention Center do nothing to further security or safety and egregiously violate the rights of the people housed within the detention center,” the lawsuit states.

The allegations stem from 2023-2025, when six inmates who are now plaintiffs in the lawsuit said they experienced SORT training operations that were “unjustified violence,” according to the lawsuit. SORT has conducted 112 training operations since January 2023, the lawsuit states.

Some of the exercises have been conducted by trainee officers as part of a training before the officers are officially graduated, said ACLU lawyer Lalita Moskowitz.

One of the plaintiffs, Jonathan Silva, said on Nov. 6, 2024, SORT officers entered his cell and deployed a flash bang near his head. Silva, who has 75% hearing loss and wears hearing aids, said his right hearing aid broke because of the noise from the blast, according to the lawsuit.

The facility did not repair Silva’s hearing aid for several months. When SORT officers conducted another training, Silva could not hear instructions from the officers and the officers used a Taser on him, the lawsuit alleges.

Another plaintiff, Mario Carrasco, who is still detained at the detention facility, said he has seen and experienced SORT officers point a Taser at his and his cellmate’s faces during operations, the lawsuit states.

Carrasco said jail officers have retaliated against him for speaking with his lawyers and helping Spanish-speaking inmates in the jail. Carrasco alleged that officers “purposefully put (him) in a position to be attacked by a group of nine or ten other detainees,” according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit alleges that many of the former inmates said they struggle with PTSD, nightmares and have been prescribed medication as a result of the training exercises.

Plaintiffs are seeking an end to all training exercises within the detention center and financial compensation, according to Moskowitz. The inmates have also submitted a petition to the U.S. Marshals Service to investigate operations within the jail.

“We are also suing for injunctive relief and for declaratory relief, which would mean that a court would declare that this behavior is unconstitutional and make that ruling specifically, not just as to our plaintiffs, but sort of in general,” Moskowitz said.