Democratic Congresswoman Urges ICE to Cut Ties with Private Companies Running Detention Centers Due to Abuses

U.S. Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren (CA-18) and U.S. Senator Alex Padilla led six of their California Democratic Congressional Delegation colleagues in signing a letter directed to ICE back on October 8 calling for the Golden State Annex and Mesa Verde ICE Processing Center in Kern County to terminate contracts with GEO Group due to "disturbing" claims of abuse of detainees.

The facilities, which were exposed in a report by the ACLU of Northern California in August, have garnered notoriety for the extensive record of inhumane conditions that immigrants face inside, which include hazardous living conditions, medical neglect, harassment, sleep deprivation, abuse of solitary confinement, and sexual assault.

Lofgren reiterated the call against both private companies in an interview with Newsweek on Monday, urging DHS to do a "top-to-bottom" review of the facilities which she claims are not only engaging in "abusive behavior towards detainees" but are also "making a small fortune off the taxpayers while doing this."

"I question whether there's room for the for-profit prisons in this," added Lofgren, before going on to criticize the use of high-level security in facilities often contracted to private companies:

"The level of security does relate to how expensive it is, and for people who are not violent or a flight risk, having very high-level security is an expensive waste."

Lofgren added that the profit-driven nature of these facilities leads to a focus on cutting costs at the expense of humane treatment, while high-security measures are maintained to justify increased expenses. She also vouches for a more bespoke approach that would save taxpayer money and ensure that non-violent detainees are not subjected to unnecessarily harsh conditions.

Lofgren also went on to reiterate another call from the October 8 letter, asking that detainees of both facilities not merely be transferred to other facilities away from their support networks but instead released on alternatives to detention and case management.

When approached for comments by Newsweek, a spokesperson for ICE said:

"ICE uses its limited detention resources to detain noncitizens who are considered a public safety or national security threat as they await their immigration proceedings and/or to carry out final orders of removal from the United States. In some cases, the closure of a facility today would require individuals to be detained at a greater distance from their attorneys of record, family, friends, and community support, who would be obligated to travel greater distances to visit individuals in ICE custody."