Bob Egelko reported in the San Francisco Chronicle on the latest development in an ongoing joint class action lawsuit against I.C.E. regarding its response to the COVID-19 pandemic at two California immigrant detention facilities. On December 3, 2020, Federal Judge Vincent Chhabria called the conduct of officials at I.C.E. and GEO Group – the private...Read More

December 3, 2020 MEDIA CONTACTS: San Francisco Public Defender’s Office, Valerie.Ibarra@sfgov.org, (628)249-7946 ACLU SoCal Communications & Media Advocacy, communications@aclusocal.org, 626-755-4129  Court Slams ICE for Handling of COVID at Mesa Verde Blistering Order Cites Lies and ‘Deliberate Indifference’ to the Safety of Detainees SAN FRANCISCO — In a blistering federal court decision handed down today on the treatment of people...Read More

Lisa Fernandez of KTVU FOX 2 reported: California ICE detention center officials ignored COVID-19 protocols: attorneys after attorneys in the ongoing Zepeda-Rivas class action lawsuit against ICE discovered new documents showing how staff at the Mesa Verde detention center in Bakersfield, CA – operated by the private prison corporation GEO Group – failed to follow...Read More

KQED’s Farida Jhabvala Romero reported: ICE Misusing Solitary Confinement for COVID-19 Quarantine, Detainees Say. The story features Alton Edmonson, a client of the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office Immigration Unit, who maintains his innocence despite a plea deal he took in relation to a November 2018 arrest in Nevada County, CA, which led to consequences...Read More

KQED’s Farida Jhabvala Romero interviewed Deputy Public Defender Emi MacLean for the report: Half of All Detainees at Bakersfield ICE Facility Have Tested Positive For COVID-19. This outbreak was discovered after a federal judge ordered weekly coronavirus testing at the Mesa Verde immigrant detention center. But immigration officials opted for slower testing that did not...Read More

Bob Egelko of the San Francisco Chronicle reported: Judge orders Bakersfield immigration holding facility to test all detainees weekly. San Francisco Public Defender Mano Raju, whose office also represents the detainees, said ICE “continues to demonstrate its failure to act to prevent a COVID crisis, which has devastating consequences to those in its custody.”Read More

Andrea Castillo of the LA Times reported: ICE deliberately limited testing at Bakersfield immigration facility with COVID-19 outbreak. The San Francisco Public Defender’s Office is part of a class action suit against ICE and GEO Group for conditions in immigration detention centers during the COVID-19 pandemic, in partnership with the ACLU of Northern and Southern...Read More