A lawsuit filed in Kern County, California indicates seven ICE detainees are suing the California City ICE facility over the conditions inside. A class action lawsuit has been filed against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The complaint accuses ICE and DHS of failing to provide adequate medical care and other essential services.
“It’s a mess in here. And it’s very cold. Very cold,” Sokhean Keo, one of the plaintiffs, said. “It’s like the whole floor is full of dirt.” Keo has been detained for around three months and describes in the complaint witnessing suicide attempts of other detainees due to the living conditions.
“The mental health is very very poor for us,” Keo said.
The lawsuit claims detainees are denied essential medications and accommodations, with some waiting months for specialist care. Kyle Virgien, a senior staff attorney at the ACLU National Prison Project, said the complaints are well documented and highlighted cases of inadequate care.
“We’ve documented an instance of someone who likely has cancer and has been waiting months to see a specialist to determine if he has it while his bloodwork gets increasingly abnormal,” Virgien said. “We’ve documented cases of someone who is not getting adequate diabetes care, who is not getting heart medication.”
Virgien noted that the lawsuit aims to encourage more detainees to come forward, despite fears of retaliation.
Conditions in immigration detention facilities have been a consistent subject of complaints and lawsuits, with allegations of medical neglect, unsafe living conditions, abuse, and violations of due process. Reports and legal actions cite issues like hazardous air and water, inadequate sanitation, insufficient food, and punitive use of solitary confinement. Organizations like the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the American Immigration Council have filed lawsuits and released reports detailing these problems, though the Department of Homeland Security often denies the severity of the issues.
You can read more at “ICE opened a detention center in a former California prison. Detainees are suing over conditions inside” at the Cal Matters website. CalMatters is a nonpartisan and nonprofit news organization bringing Californians stories that probe, explain and explore solutions to quality of life issues while holding our leaders accountable.
