Immigration detention lawsuit

On January 24, the ACLU joined in a suit on behalfof immigration detainees at San Diego Correctional Facility, chargingthat conditions in a privately managed immigration facilities are unconstitutional. 

According to thecomplaint, more than 650 detainees live three-to-a-cell,meaning that one of them sleeps on a plastic slab on the floor by thetoilet, with additional detainees sleeping on bunk beds in the recreationarea.  The population of some housing units is more than 50percent over design-capacity.  Chronically severe overcrowding poses health and safety risks to detainees.

Because of the huge backlog of immigration casesin the Ninth Circuit, hundreds of  detainees are held in these detention centers for many months or years.  According to litigants, more than half of thedetainees in ICE custody have never been convicted of a crime and areonly in custody to await civil proceedings related to their immigrationstatus.

A link to the second amended complaint can be found here.  The Department of Homeland Security’s Office of the Inspector General recently issued a report on immigration detention conditions.  The report was critical of the San Diego facility, although the criticisms do not extend to some of the issues raised in the Kiniti complaint.  A link to the OIG report is here.

-jmc