Judge orders ‘filthy’ Arizona immigration detention centers photos released
Here is more on a story that Jennifer Koh previously blogged about. A federal judge in Tucson, Arizona, approved the release of some photos and documents filed as evidence in a class action lawsuit against US Customs and Border Protection over allegedly deplorable conditions in eight detention facilities.
US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) told the court that even a partial release of the photographs and documents would invade the privacy rights of immigrants and jeopardize security at border patrol facilities.
Judge David Bury, in an order filed earlier this week, dismissed those concerns and ordered the unsealing of certain photos and documents.
The documents are CBP inspection reports covering the recurring problems with lighting, air conditioning and surveillance cameras not working properly in the facilities. One report pointed out video monitors as well as holding room audio and video loops “have been inoperable for over two years.”
The class-action lawsuit was filed on behalf of immigrants who were held at eight detention facilities in southern Arizona. A coalition of advocates and lawyers, including the American Immigration Council in Washington, DC and Morrison & Foerster LLP, claim immigrants were held in unsanitary and inhumane conditions, subjected to cold and deprived of sleep by the border enforcement’s Tucson Sector.
KJ