A coalition of human rights groups has led new criticism at a privately operated migrant detention facility in New Mexico, where they say fast-track asylum screenings routinely take place without legal counsel or adequate privacy during sensitive testimony.

The rights groups say the broken screening system at the Torrance County Detention Facility means that migrants with strong, viable claims to asylum — who can’t go back to their country because of persecution or the threat of torture — are instead being screened out inappropriately for deportation as the Biden administration seeks to impose severe limitations on migrants hoping for asylum at the border.

The 187-page complaint and findings were made by the American Civil Liberties Union and three advocacy groups that provide legal services to asylum-seekers.

They're urging the US government to end its contract with the private company that runs the facility, which is overseen by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The report also catalogued complaints of retaliation against migrants who raise objections to asylum procedures and living conditions.

Most initial interviews at the facility are being conducted without access to a crucial legal orientation, and other key legal requirements are routinely ignored, the groups say.

As migrants appeal their initial rejection to an immigration judge, many are denied access to files in their own cases, leaving them to challenge “secret decisions they have never seen,” according to the report.

The report also describes situations where initial screening interviews by telephone with asylum officers are easily overheard by other migrants, citing testimonials from migrants who express alarm at the lack of privacy and fear of recounting past persecution abroad, including conflicts with organised crime and sexual assault.

Those initial interviews with asylum officers take place in cubicles separated by thin partitions that don’t reach the ceiling and white-noise machines that reportedly don’t do enough to drown out conversations.

Alberto Mendez, a 33-year-old Salvadoran national, said his asylum screening at the Torrance County Detention Facility took place in unison with 15 other migrants without prior legal advice and ended in rejection.

“The cubicles don’t have a roof, they just have dividers. So we all hear what everyone is saying. Everything,” said Mendez, a father of three who worked as a cook and Uber driver on the outskirts of San Salvador until he fled threats and relentless recruitment campaigns by gangs.

“My fear was that what you were saying would be divulged in your own country,” he said. “And that could bring reprisals and even bigger consequences.”

Aside from the procedural issues, a federal watchdog in early 2022 detailed unsafe and unsanitary conditions at the Torrance County facility during an unannounced inspection — recommending that everyone be transferred elsewhere. Those findings from the Department of Homeland Security Inspector General were disputed by CoreCivic and ICE officials.

CoreCivic has said the detention centre is monitored closely by ICE and is required to undergo regular reviews and audits to ensure an appropriate standard of living for all detainees and adherence agency’s strict standards and policies.

Support for the facility among elected officials has wavered.