SAN DIEGO (Border Report) — California Attorney General Rob Bonta has issued a report on immigration detention facilities operating in the state calling conditions for migrants “alarming.”
Six for-profit facilities, utilized by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, ICE, were surveyed by the California Department of Justice, something it has done three other times in recent years.
“California has a responsibility to understand the conditions in which all our residents live, including people who are detained at immigration detention facilities,” Bonta said. “My office’s review of facilities in California shows that issues previously identified have persisted, while new findings make clear that these facilities need significant improvements.”
According to Bonta, the report was put together to provide the public and policymakers with critical information about the conditions to which people in immigration detention in California are subjected.
Some of the findings show a lack of access to mental and health care at these sites.
“At certain facilities, certain individuals were over disciplined including for simply making a complaint, at some facilities there were lapses for certain individuals receiving treatment for infectious diseases and the quality and timing of diagnostic care was severely lacking.”
Bonta also stated some detainees with mental health issues are being forced to live in isolation.
“Some detained people spent periods of several months to over a year in positions of isolation, which is harmful to any person, but at a particular risk to those with underlying mental health conditions.”
The report also states that at different facilities, staff appeared to be overutilizing discipline and the use of force while not considering mental health conditions prior to engaging in calculated use of force incidents — as is required by ICE’s standards of care.
The findings also show a disproportionate use of force against individuals with mental health diagnoses.
“Some were subjected to use of force simply for being considered frantic.”
Bonta unveiled the results of the bi-annual survey during a news conference in San Diego, where the Otay Mesa Detention Center is located.
It is one of the six privately-operated facilities investigated by California’s DOJ.
This site, according to Bonta, lacked a psychologist or psychiatrist on site.
“We also identified the lack of suicide prevention in every facility,” he said. “These strategies are necessary because of the high suicide rate in detained populations.”
Bonta told reporters he believes the problems will only get worse under the Trump administration as it tries to eliminate oversight of conditions at immigration detention facilities.
Border Report reached out to ICE for comment about the report issued by Bonta and his staff, and is awaiting a reply. Core Civic, the company that operates the Otay Mesa Detention Center, also did not respond to request for comment.
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