Groups Allege First Amendment Violations At ICE Facilities

San Diego CA

27 August, 2021

7:41 PM

Description

SAN DIEGO, CA — The company that owns and operates the Otay Mesa Detention Center in San Diego pushed back Friday on allegations from civil rights groups claiming that Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainees have faced retaliation for speaking out against the conditions of their detention. A complaint filed Thursday alleges that the First Amendment rights of eight detainees at Otay Mesa and other facilities throughout the state were violated, with punitive measures allegedly taken against those who aired grievances or staged protests, hunger strikes and prayer vigils. The complaint -- filed by the ACLU Foundation of San Diego & Imperial Counties, ACLU Foundation of Southern California, ACLU Foundation of Northern California, California Collaborative for Immigrant Justice and Centro Legal de La Raza -- alleges that guards have shot pepper bullets at those protesting, placed them in solitary confinement and denied access to food, medicine or legal counsel. Regarding Otay Mesa, the groups allege retaliation has been "pervasive and long-standing" at the facility, and that detainees "consistently disclose a fear of reporting instances of illegal conduct or substandard conditions because they will likely suffer harassment, solitary confinement, or worse from the facility's employees." Retaliatory measures were taken last year when detainees protested an alleged lack of protective measures amid a major COVID-19 outbreak at the facility, which led to the death of one detainee, according to the complaint. The detainee who died, 57-year-old Carlos Escobar-Mejia, as well as several others were allegedly placed in solitary confinement after taking part in a hunger strike. Ryan Gustin, a spokesperson for CoreCivic, said the company denies "the specious and sensationalized allegations" contained in the complaint, which he said "are designed to exert political pressure rather than to serve as an objective description of the affirmative, proactive measures that OMDC has undertaken for over a year to address this unprecedented pandemic." CoreCivic also alleges the complaint mischaracterizes the facility's cohorting procedures for preventing the spread of COVID-19 infections by referring to them as solitary confinement, which "does not exist at any of the facilities we operate." Gustin charged that the ACLU's claims regarding the alleged history of retaliation at Otay Mesa come from a place of bias, and rely largely on a previously ACLU drafted report. "COVID-19 has created extraordinary challenges for every detention system in America -- public and private," Gustin said in a statement. "At the same time, the state of California on the whole has experienced some of the highest number of COVID-19 cases across the country. We have worked together closely with our government partners and state health officials to respond to this unprecedented situation appropriately, thoroughly and with care for the well-being of those entrusted to us and our communities. We believe this is why conditions at OMDC have stabilized, yet we remain vigilant." Other facilities targeted in the complaint include the Yuba County Jail in Marysville, Mesa Verde Detention Center in Bakersfield, Adelanto Detention Center in Adelanto and Golden State Annex in McFarland. The complaint was filed with the Department of Homeland Security's Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, which investigates complaints filed by the public regarding department policies, activities and actions taken by department personnel. — City News Service