One man with diabetes is using toilet paper to cover a sore on his foot because he was not provided clean bandages, which may result in the loss of his foot. Another is deaf and has been left in isolation and unable to communicate because the facility has not provided a sign language interpreter.
Keker, Van Nest & Peters partner Steven Ragland shared these examples with Law.com as examples of some of the “inhumane conditions” that are at the heart of a putative class action targeting the California City Detention Facility, the largest ICE detention center in the state.
Filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, the lawsuit accuses ICE, the Department of Homeland Security, and the private prison company CoreCivic of violating the First and Fifth Amendments and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. Keker represents the plaintiffs, along with the ACLU Foundation, the Prison Law Office, and the California Collaborative for Immigrant Justice.
“Our clients have lost eight or so pounds since being detained there because there's not enough food. They're not providing sweatshirts unless you can afford them in the commissary,” Ragland said. “That's just cruel. It's just cruelty for cruelty's sake, it seems to us ... every single person who's detained in California City needs relief now. And we're aimed at trying to get that."
The complaint says that the government has failed to meet the basic human needs of the more than 800 people currently detained at the facility, which is a former state prison in the Mojave Desert. Under its $130 million annual contract with ICE, CoreCivic is expected to increase the number of detainees to more than 2,500 detainees.
The suit outlines degrading and dangerous conditions, including inadequate medical care, meager portions of food and water, denial of disability accommodations, excessive isolation and solitary confinement, exposure to extreme temperatures, and restricted access to legal counsel.
"One of our other clients likely has prostate cancer, but he's not getting treatment," Ragland said.
Plaintiff Alejandro Mendiola Escutia, said that conditions at California City are “much worse” than prison. He described widespread depression among detainees, and inadequate clothing and shoes. The overcrowded facility has forced detainees to sleep on the floor.
“I had more privileges when I was in prison,” he said.
Keker attorneys on the case include Ragland, Cody Harris, and Carlos Martinez.
Read the Law.com article here. (subscription required)