Thousands of Immigrants Relocated as Riot Protest Over Medical Conditions in Immigration Prison Causes Fires, Lockdowns [Pic]

An uprising at a Texas immigration prison Friday forced about 2,800 detained immigrants to be relocated.

KGBT Valley Central reports nearly 2,000 inmates at the Willacy County Correctional Center started a riot throughout the prison just 200 miles south of San Antonio protesting for better medical conditions. State authorities and several agencies were called to secure the location at the privately-owned prison, where some inmates broke out of the housing area, created chaos in the recreational yard and started shaking the fence.

Guards used tear gas to calm inmates as small fires broke out in three of the units. The Raymondville Fire Department responded to the fire.

The uprising caused a prison lockdown, and schools in the area near the prison also had a soft lockdown starting at 12:30 in the afternoon.

Issa Arnita, the communications director for the operators of the facility, said inmates refused to participate in normal work duties and to attend breakfast Friday morning. The director said corrections officers brought breakfast to housing units as inmates voiced their opinions about medical services at the prison.

The Willacy County Correctional Center spokesperson said about two officers and an inmate received treatment for minor injuries. The prison's worker added that everyone inside the facility is safe.

Inmates have wanted to create an uprising at the facility for a long time since ongoing medical issues often goes unnoticed at the prison, Fusion reports.

"It's a predictable consequence of the Bureau of Prisons turning a blind eye to the abuse at Criminal Alien Requirement prisons," Carl Takei, a staff attorney at the ACLU who visited the facility in 2013, said. "Willacy is aptly a symbol of everything that is wrong with the criminalization of immigration and BOP's use of privatization."

An inmate named Dante told the ACLU more than a year ago that prisoners are sometimes "so frustrated that they even speak of burning down the tents."

Willacy County primarily holds immigration detainees where some could be waiting for deportation.