Protesters decry conditions at ICE detention centers as ACLU report details alleged abuses

Protesters called on ICE to terminate its contracts with GEO Group for both Mesa Verde and the Golden State Annex in December, when contracts are under review and renewal for 5 years. The publicly traded multinational corrections corporation holds contracts to operate four of six ICE detention centers in California.

In response to the protesters, an ICE spokeswoman referred KQED to a statement issued last year that reads in part: “ICE fully respects the rights of everyone to express their opinion without interference. ICE does not retaliate in any way against hunger strikers.”

Spokeswoman Alethea Smock also pointed to the agency’s recent statement that it ended a pandemic-era toll-free program due to budget constraints. ice”would gladly reinstate the 520-minute call schedule with appropriate funding” from Congress, the statement said.

And she made the reference ICE Detention Standards Regarding Seclusionwhich regulates the use of cells for “disciplinary segregation” or “administrative segregation”. The standards say segregation must be reviewed every 30 days if it extends beyond that. It also states that “every effort” should be made to place inmates with “serious mental illness” in an alternative setting where they can receive care.

Complaints reveal abuse and neglect, lawyers say

The San Francisco protest took place on the same day as the ACLU of Northern California released a report documenting what it called a pattern of dangerous, inhumane conditions, medical negligence and retaliation at all six ICE facilities in California, which have a combined capacity of nearly 7,200 people.

The report is based on a database of 485 complaint applications filed over the past two years by immigrants detained at all six ICE facilities in California. The records of the request were obtained through a federal Freedom of Information Act lawsuit or directly from the individuals who filed them. According to the ACLU report, ICE determined that only 8 percent of grievances were well founded.

Last year, ICE officials said in a statement that it is “committed to ensuring that all those in its custody reside in safe, secure, and humane environments under appropriate conditions. isolation conditions.” They added that “the agency takes allegations of misconduct very seriously – staff are held to the highest standards of professional and ethical behavior and when a complaint is received it is thoroughly investigated to determine its veracity and ensure that comprehensive standards are strictly maintained and enforced. “

A unannounced federal inspection at the Golden State Annex in April found the facility “generally complied” with health care and other standards, but did not allow recreation for people in seclusion and did not meet requirements to respond to complaints. A inspection Last November at the Mesa Verde facility, staff did not accurately report a use of force incident.

Complaint Allegations of sexual abuse

On Tuesday, the day before the protest, half a dozen immigrants detained at the Golden State Annex filed a federal civil rights complaint alleging sexual abuse, harassment and discrimination based on their sexual orientation, gender expression or in retaliation for speaking out about poor conditions. The complaint alleges that guards repeatedly made sexually suggestive and threatening comments to a gay couple fleeing violence in Colombia, subjected a transgender woman to sexually intrusive strip searches, and waged a campaign of sexually degrading comments against to a man after he protested medical negligence. and mistreatment.

The inmates filing the complaint are asking the Department of Homeland Security’s Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties to investigate and ensure that staff members accused of abuse are barred from working with inmates, according to attorney Lee Ann Felder-Heim of the Asian Law Caucus . in San Francisco.

She said the six people involved filed the complaint only after waiting months for a response to previous reports of abusive behavior.

“We are aware of reports of sexual abuse and harassment in many facilities across the country,” Felder-Heim said. “So this is definitely not an isolated incident.”

In an emailed statement, GEO Group spokesman Christopher Ferreira said the company takes all allegations of sexual abuse and harassment “with the utmost seriousness”.

“We have a zero-tolerance policy regarding such matters and take steps to ensure a thorough investigation of all related complaints,” he said, adding that GEO is committed to providing services to the Department of Homeland Security “in accordance with all established federal standards.”

Alternatives to detention are cheaper

ICE currently has funding to own 41,500 people in immigration detention at all times, at an annual cost of $3.4 billion. Just over 36,000 people were in custody from August 11. The American Immigration Lawyers Association estimates that cost of detention at $165/day per person. ICE’s “Alternatives to Detention” program, which involves community supervision, has a cost of 8 USD/day per individual.