In Summary
Immigrants in California’s newest ICE detention center allege they’re experiencing inhumane conditions and that they’re not getting access to lawyers. Until recently, the site was a state prison.
Seven detainees at an immigration detention center in California City have sued U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, alleging the facility is polluted by sewage leaks, infested with bugs and is denying people access to food, water and their lawyers.
The lawsuit filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in the Northern District of California also claims detainees do not have appropriate clothing for the chilly desert nights, nor appropriate medical attention for life-threatening conditions. The lawsuit alleges detainees with mobility issues don’t have access to wheelchairs, and in some cases are unable to bathe or dress themselves.
The plaintiffs are seeking to make the lawsuit a class action on behalf of all detainees housed at the California City Immigration Processing Center, which is about 75 miles east of Bakersfield and run by the private prison company CoreCivic.
“In their haste to warehouse hundreds of men and women in this isolated facility, defendants have failed to provide for the basic human needs of the people for whose lives and wellbeing they are legally responsible,” the lawsuit alleges.
Read more from Cal Matters here.
