Local Advocates Express Concern over Public Health Failures in California Immigration Detention Facilities

November 19th, 2020
For Immediate Release

Contact
Jackie Gonzalez, Immigrant Defense Advocates

Adriana Jasso, American Friends Services Committee

On Thursday immigration advocates released a report detailing interactions between local public health departments and immigration detention facilities ahead of a joint oversight hearing by the Senate Public Safety Committee and Special Committee on Pandemic Emergency Response in the state legislature, focused on COVID-19 in California State Prisons. The report includes inquiries and responses between advocates and local public health departments in which immigration detention facilities are located. 

The report focuses on federal requirements for all ICE detention facilities to “comply with current and future plans implemented by federal, state or local authorities addressing specific public health issues including communicable disease reporting requirements,” as well as additional requirements under ICE’s Pandemic Response Requirements which mandate that detention operators to coordinate and engage with local public health authorities.

The report notes that inquiries made to local public health departments yielded no evidence that public health authorities were aware of these requirements or exercising meaningful oversight over these facilities based on the authority provided by federal law. The report notes “the seeming lack of knowledge with respect to ICE’s mandatory requirements for detention operators underscores an important gap in understanding and policy making that must immediately be addressed in the midst of this public health crisis.”

Of particular note are extensive emails obtained by the American Friends Services Committee between local public health authorities and CoreCivic, the for-profit operator of the Otay Mesa Detention Facility. The emails appear to indicate refusals by CoreCivic to comply with CDPH guidance to test employees in the midst of what was at the time the largest outbreak of COVID-19 in any ICE detention facility in the nation.

“The spread of COVID-19 to more than a hundred and fifty detainees at Otay Mesa should never have taken place, and now those on the inside are confronting a second outbreak. Public health authorities must do more to regulate the conduct of corporations who place their profits over people’s lives,” said Adriana Jasso with the American Friends Services Committee. 

Jackie Gonzalez, Policy Director with Immigrant Defense Advocates urged the state to take action and issue clear guidance with respect to public health protections for immigrant detention facilities. “It is clear that these detention operators are not following federal requirements, or making an effort to coordinate with local and state public health authorities. Their actions, particularly those of for-profit corporations, put all of our lives at risk in the midst of a pandemic. We do not expect ICE to ensure compliance, therefore it is the responsibility of our state and local officials to address this humanitarian crisis.” 

Link to report – Immigration Detention and Public Health

Overview of Immigration Detention and Public Health