Thread: ACLU seeks wider suit over San Diego immigration jail

http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2007/01 ... _24_07.txt

Wednesday, January 24, 2007


ACLU seeks wider suit over San Diego immigration jail conditions

By: ALLISON HOFFMAN - Associated Press

SAN DIEGO -- The American Civil Liberties Union on Wednesday sought class-action status for a lawsuit against a privately operated federal immigration detention center near the U.S.-Mexico border on behalf detainees who claim they are being held in overcrowded and inhumane conditions.

According to the ACLU complaint, which aims to broaden an earlier suit, the 1,232-bed San Diego Correctional Facility is "chronically and dangerously overcrowded," which leads to an increase in violence among inmates, poor sanitation and hygiene, diminished access to medical attention, and "a loss of personal dignity."

Inmates at the facility include illegal immigrants caught at the border, asylum seekers, or people who are challenging deportation orders. They can be held for periods ranging from months to years.

The complaint alleges that 675 detainees are subject to "triple-celling," in which three people share cells that measure 6 feet by 12 feet. The plaintiffs named in the suit claim they had to sleep on plastic mats on the floor and were close enough to the cell toilets that they were "sprayed" by cellmates using the toilet or sink.

David Blair-Loy, legal director of the San Diego chapter of the ACLU, said that overcrowding at the facility had worsened in recent months, with inmates crammed "like sardines" due to the closure of a unit at the center and to a growing inmate population as a result of heightened border enforcement.

"The situation here is egregious and I think unconscionable," said Blair-Loy. "You've either got to have fewer detainees or more space."

The complaint, filed in San Diego federal court, names Julie Myers, the assistant secretary of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, John Torres, the director of detention operations for ICE, and ICE officials in San Diego with supervisory responsibility for the facility operated by the private Corrections Corporation of America. The company, based in Nashville, Tenn., is also named in the complaint.

ICE spokeswoman Lauren Mack said the agency will not comment on pending litigation, but said the agency conducts annual audits of its facilities and is committed to maintaining "safe, secure and humane detention conditions."

There was no immediate response to a telephone message seeking comment from Joe Easterling, the warden of the facility and also a named party.

Corrections Corporation of America declined to comment on the lawsuit.

"Our policy is not to comment on ongoing or pending litigation except through court filings," said Steven Owen, a CCA spokesman.

The minimum- and medium-security detention center, located about 25 miles east of downtown San Diego, opened in June 1998 and is used by federal immigration authorities and the U.S. Marshals Service.

The ACLU motion for class-action status amends an existing lawsuit filed by Isaac Kiniti, a Kenyan fighting a deportation order who claims he has been repeatedly "triple-celled" during his time at the San Diego facility since his 2004 arrest by immigration officials.

I really don't see how our country can afford the ACLU in this country anymore, I think we should sue them to drop the A, for American from their name when it is plain as day they do not work for Americans!

Anything for a buck nitty, anything for a buck.

Pitch some tents, pass out the pink panties and that should shut them up.

Dixie

http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib ... 0move.html

Some 230 Otay Mesa detainees are moved

ACLU fears immigrants in suit were singled out

By Greg Moran
STAFF WRITER

January 30, 2007

About 230 detainees housed at an Otay Mesa immigration detention facility that was the target of a lawsuit last week alleging severe overcrowding were moved over the weekend to new spots in downtown San Diego and Arizona.

Among those moved was the lead plaintiff, who was transferred to a Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, facility in Florence, Ariz., according to a lawyer for the ACLU in San Diego.

“It's very troubling, because it creates the appearance of retaliation against our clients and the detainees,” said David Blair-Loy, the legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union in San Diego.

A spokeswoman for ICE, however, said the transfers were not punitive.

“No one was singled out,” Lauren Mack said.

The Otay Mesa facility is meant to house 1,000 immigrants awaiting deportation or resolution of their appeals or asylum claims.

The ACLU contends that for months the facility has been overcrowded, with 12-foot by 6-foot cells built for two people routinely housing three.

The group filed papers in federal court last week to join a lawsuit filed by a detainee, Isaac Kinite, which alleged that the facility was habitually and dangerously overcrowded. The ACLU wants to broaden the lawsuit to a class action on behalf of all detainees there.

Immigration detainees are held under violations of civil law, not criminal. It is believed to be the first lawsuit that seeks broad improvements in housing conditions for such people based on their status as civil detainees.

Mack said that moving the detainees was not in response to the lawsuit.

“It's not uncommon for us to move detainees to other facilities when there is a need for bed space,” she said.

Some detainees with upcoming court dates were sent to a facility in downtown San Diego, she said. Others who are longer-term detainees whose cases will probably not be resolved by courts soon were sent out of state.

The ACLU's Blair-Loy was not convinced. He said the facility had been triple-celling inmates since at least June, and there was no mass transfer of detainees in that time.

Moving Kinite, he said, was suspect. “We're very troubled because it appears they could be trying to interfere with access to our client, and pursuit of the litigation,” he said.

Moving the detainees and easing the overcrowding will not derail the lawsuit, because the proposed class action seeks improvements for all current and future detainees at the facility.

Blair-Loy said the detainees were moved with virtually no notice. He said they were awakened at 2 a.m. Saturday and placed in holding cells until 10 that night.

“On the one hand, we're glad they are, however belatedly, starting to address the problem,” Blair-Loy said. “But it's very troubling how they did this, at the last moment, and with no notice.”

MY GAWD!!! SOMEBODY SAVE US FROM THE ACLU!!!! maybe we can sue them for costing the American tax payers so much money that we could have used on something useful, like getting illegals out of our country!!!

Solve one problem which leads to another!

http://www.kpbs.org/news/local?id=7256

Attorneys Say Otay Detainees Defenseless

Feb 02, 2007
Amy Isackson
SEND TO A FRIEND

Federal immigration officials say some of the people who were being held in an overcrowded immigration detention facility in Otay Mesa are now in an Arizona County jail. Some immigration attorneys are concerned the moves are endangering their clients' rights to a fair trial. KPBS reporter Amy Isackson has the story.
Federal officials moved than 200 people detained on civil immigration charges in Otay Mesa to temporary holding facilities in downtown San Diego and Arizona. The San Diego group has overstayed the time limit at the short term facility. Immigration officials say the Arizona group is now being held at a county jail. One of San Diego immigration attorney Andrea Guerrero client's is in Arizona. She says the move has effectively eliminated his right to counsel.
Guerrero: He's six hours away. I cannot travel to him. If his case was removed to this other jurisdiction in Arizona then he would have the ability to get local counsel.
Guerrero says immigration officials say her client will be moved back to San Diego one week before his trial. Guerrero says that's not enough time to prepare him for court. Amy Isackson, KPBS news.

Originally Posted by jean

Solve one problem which leads to another!

http://www.kpbs.org/news/local?id=7256

Attorneys Say Otay Detainees Defenseless

Feb 02, 2007
Amy Isackson
SEND TO A FRIEND

Federal immigration officials say some of the people who were being held in an overcrowded immigration detention facility in Otay Mesa are now in an Arizona County jail. Some immigration attorneys are concerned the moves are endangering their clients' rights to a fair trial. KPBS reporter Amy Isackson has the story.
Federal officials moved than 200 people detained on civil immigration charges in Otay Mesa to temporary holding facilities in downtown San Diego and Arizona. The San Diego group has overstayed the time limit at the short term facility. Immigration officials say the Arizona group is now being held at a county jail. One of San Diego immigration attorney Andrea Guerrero client's is in Arizona. She says the move has effectively eliminated his right to counsel.
Guerrero: He's six hours away. I cannot travel to him. If his case was removed to this other jurisdiction in Arizona then he would have the ability to get local counsel.
Guerrero says immigration officials say her client will be moved back to San Diego one week before his trial. Guerrero says that's not enough time to prepare him for court. Amy Isackson, KPBS news.

Geeez no matter what you do, the ACLU just isn't happy, are they?