McNeil Island is a 6.6 square mile island located in south Puget Sound, lying 2.8 miles across the water from the nearest town. The site was utilized for 142 continuous years as an island-based penal institution, beginning in 1869 with a jail built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. In 1909 the facility became a federal prison, the McNeil Island Federal Penitentiary, which was transferred to the State of Washington in 1981 and renamed the McNeil Island Corrections Center. In 2011 the state closed the prison, and as of 2019 the facility is run by the Department of Social and Health Services as the state's primary Special Commitment Center.

Between April and October 1980, the mass emigration of Cuban citizens, known as the Mariel boatlift, brought over 100,000 refugees to the U.S. When some of the refugees were found to have been released from Cuban prisons and mental health facilities, a number were placed in federal detention around the country pending deportation hearings.

Over two hundred Cuban men seeking asylum were detained at McNeil Island Penitentiary beginning in July 1980. This image shows three of the Cuban detainees watching television in their cell block at McNeil Island.

Filing date stamped on back of photograph: Feb 2 1981 (date of photograph, file date, and publication date(s) may differ).

Caption information sources: "McNeil Island and the Federal Penitentiary, 1841-1981," by Daryl C. McClary, HistoryLink.org Essay 5238; and "McNeil Island Corrections Center, 1981-present," by Daryl C. McClary, HistoryLink.org Essay 5239.
Caption information also derived from captions written by Post-Intelligencer staff and attached to the back of the photograph.