Gov. Newsom should halt immigrant transfers to ICE centers due COVID-19 pandemic
As a doctor, I took an oath to protect lives.
And, as a state legislator, I am compelled to take action when our policies fall short of this principle.
So I’m alarmed when I read news reports and testimony that Californians deemed eligible for release from our prisons and jails instead are transferred to the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
This is the abhorrent situation at the Mesa Verde immigration detention center in Bakersfield, with distressing consequences. As of mid-August, more than half of immigrants detained there tested positive for the coronavirus, following transfers from state facilities with confirmed COVID-19 outbreaks.
In fact, a federal judge concluded in August that ICE intentionally limited testing at Mesa Verde, after reviewing a series of disturbing emails between ICE and the GEO Group, the for-profit corporation that operates the detention center. The judge said he found “deliberate indifference to the risk of an outbreak” and said ICE had “lost the right to be trusted.”
The judge ordered testing for all detained people at the site, but California should never have allowed these transfers — lives now are at risk.
We all are in this battle against the pandemic of the century. As the central San Joaquin Valley grapples with skyrocketing infection rates of COVID-19, we cannot add fuel to the fire. The outbreak at Mesa Verde jeopardized the health and lives of the detained people, the employees, and the surrounding community.
Mesa Verde — which I again remind you is a privately run facility — has neglected to administer the safety precautions and health measures needed to protect people from COVID-19, according to detainees and families who have shared their stories. Safety protocols were simply being ignored, an especially appalling situation when we know the Central Valley is a coronavirus “hot spot” not just in California but the country.
Our leaders must realize that the health of each of us depends on the health of all of us. Gov. Gavin Newsom must heed the calls of my fellow physicians and fellow legislators — he can suspend the transfer practice to all ICE detention centers. He should follow the lead of Los Angeles County. The sheriff recently halted all transfers to ICE after community members and civil rights organizations raised critical concerns about the practice, a directive that county’s Board of Supervisors has now voted to enshrine as policy.
These individuals have been released from prison or jail because charges have been dropped. Or, they’ve completed their sentences, received clemency, or been granted parole. They should be reunited with their loved ones.
They should not be transferred to these centers and forced into harm’s way.
Ending these transfers is one modest but crucial measure that addresses the disparities and discrimination in our criminal justice system. Families and communities are eager to welcome home their loved ones — alive.
This story was originally published September 16, 2020 at 12:30 PM.