1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:02,040 Speaker 1: What has to happen in order for them to let 2 00:00:02,120 --> 00:00:05,080 Speaker 1: us go home and get us out of this dangerous situation. 3 00:00:05,200 --> 00:00:06,840 Speaker 1: I mean, how many people more are they going to 4 00:00:06,920 --> 00:00:10,159 Speaker 1: need to see that die before they do something? This 5 00:00:10,400 --> 00:00:13,240 Speaker 1: is in humane what they're doing to us. 6 00:00:17,720 --> 00:00:21,760 Speaker 2: From futuro media and PRX. It's Latino USA. I'm Maria 7 00:00:21,880 --> 00:00:28,640 Speaker 2: no Josa. Today, privately run immigration detention centers are everywhere. 8 00:00:28,680 --> 00:00:41,159 Speaker 2: Are these places actually necessary? The unprecedented health crisis created 9 00:00:41,159 --> 00:00:45,720 Speaker 2: by the coronavirus forced the release of thousands of migrants 10 00:00:45,880 --> 00:00:49,920 Speaker 2: from across the country, plunging the number of people detained 11 00:00:49,920 --> 00:00:53,200 Speaker 2: in immigration facilities to a historic low. 12 00:00:53,760 --> 00:00:57,120 Speaker 3: More detainees are being released from the federal immigration detention 13 00:00:57,200 --> 00:01:00,640 Speaker 3: facility in Batavia because of the coronavirus crisis. 14 00:01:00,800 --> 00:01:04,520 Speaker 4: California judge orders Ice to release hundreds of immigrant detainees 15 00:01:04,560 --> 00:01:05,720 Speaker 4: because of COVID nineteen. 16 00:01:06,160 --> 00:01:09,399 Speaker 5: A federal district court has ordered the immediate release of 17 00:01:09,480 --> 00:01:13,160 Speaker 5: twenty two people in immigration attention in Pennsylvania. This comes 18 00:01:13,160 --> 00:01:16,240 Speaker 5: over fears the detainees could be at higher risk for 19 00:01:16,440 --> 00:01:18,240 Speaker 5: contracting the coronavirus. 20 00:01:18,520 --> 00:01:23,120 Speaker 2: It wasn't simple, though, Critics argued that releasing migrants would 21 00:01:23,200 --> 00:01:26,760 Speaker 2: threaten public safety. And they claimed it was all part 22 00:01:26,760 --> 00:01:31,400 Speaker 2: of a larger political agenda against former President Donald Trump's 23 00:01:31,400 --> 00:01:32,600 Speaker 2: immigration policies. 24 00:01:32,840 --> 00:01:36,440 Speaker 3: The advocates are using this crisis to shut down immigration attention. 25 00:01:36,840 --> 00:01:39,680 Speaker 3: They don't want any detainees detained by ICE. This is 26 00:01:39,680 --> 00:01:42,640 Speaker 3: about open borders agenda. They're taking advantage of a crisis 27 00:01:42,720 --> 00:01:44,759 Speaker 3: to push her progressive agenda. 28 00:01:45,240 --> 00:01:48,800 Speaker 2: But immigration attorneys and activists weren't deterred. 29 00:01:49,000 --> 00:01:52,040 Speaker 6: Now at five thirty of protests in Pompino Beach, doctors, 30 00:01:52,320 --> 00:01:56,240 Speaker 6: nurses and members of the community chanting freedom all and 31 00:01:56,320 --> 00:01:59,960 Speaker 6: demanding all ICE detainees to be release, ciding safety, concerned 32 00:02:00,240 --> 00:02:02,520 Speaker 6: over the coronavirus pandemic. 33 00:02:02,240 --> 00:02:05,040 Speaker 7: We are here today to demand that ICE release all 34 00:02:05,080 --> 00:02:06,440 Speaker 7: individuals from detention. 35 00:02:07,080 --> 00:02:12,360 Speaker 2: Advocates also needed to fight a longstanding myth that once 36 00:02:12,560 --> 00:02:16,919 Speaker 2: freed from detention, immigrants would disappear into the shadows and 37 00:02:16,960 --> 00:02:21,720 Speaker 2: wouldn't show up to their court hearings. Statistics, however, indicate 38 00:02:21,800 --> 00:02:25,920 Speaker 2: the complete opposite. Eighty three percent of people with pending 39 00:02:25,960 --> 00:02:30,480 Speaker 2: cases in immigration courts who are not in detention still 40 00:02:30,760 --> 00:02:34,040 Speaker 2: attend all of their court dates. In the case of 41 00:02:34,080 --> 00:02:37,520 Speaker 2: those with a lawyer, the court appearance rate jumps up 42 00:02:37,600 --> 00:02:42,440 Speaker 2: to ninety six percent. So that brings us to a 43 00:02:42,480 --> 00:02:46,760 Speaker 2: bigger question, how did immigrant detention camps come to be 44 00:02:47,520 --> 00:02:52,359 Speaker 2: and do we actually need them at all? To try 45 00:02:52,400 --> 00:03:00,200 Speaker 2: to find some answers, here's California based producer jess Albarenga. 46 00:03:01,880 --> 00:03:05,960 Speaker 8: When you approach the facility, it looks like a prison. 47 00:03:06,760 --> 00:03:09,560 Speaker 8: You have to go in through several layers of like 48 00:03:09,600 --> 00:03:14,560 Speaker 8: security gates and doors to get inside. 49 00:03:17,320 --> 00:03:21,440 Speaker 9: That's Monica Angharica and immigrants rights staff attorney at the 50 00:03:21,440 --> 00:03:26,040 Speaker 9: ACOU of San Diego and Imperial Counties. She's describing the 51 00:03:26,080 --> 00:03:28,639 Speaker 9: ote Mesa detention center near San Diego. 52 00:03:30,040 --> 00:03:33,160 Speaker 8: Aside from being totally locked and controlled by people who 53 00:03:33,360 --> 00:03:35,840 Speaker 8: you can only talk to over like a speaker, they're 54 00:03:36,040 --> 00:03:37,600 Speaker 8: lined with barbed wire all around. 55 00:03:37,960 --> 00:03:41,280 Speaker 9: Monica has been representing migrants at the border for almost 56 00:03:41,360 --> 00:03:42,160 Speaker 9: a decade. 57 00:03:42,280 --> 00:03:45,360 Speaker 8: You know, when I started practicing here in San Diego, 58 00:03:45,960 --> 00:03:48,440 Speaker 8: when you were driving to Otemisa, it was a very 59 00:03:48,520 --> 00:03:50,800 Speaker 8: undeveloped part of the city and the county. There were 60 00:03:50,800 --> 00:03:54,560 Speaker 8: dirt roads and now there's a little more development around there, 61 00:03:54,560 --> 00:03:57,680 Speaker 8: but it's still just very remote. 62 00:03:57,920 --> 00:04:01,200 Speaker 9: And that's true for a lot of detention center. Many 63 00:04:01,320 --> 00:04:05,360 Speaker 9: look very much like high security prisons and are located 64 00:04:05,480 --> 00:04:10,680 Speaker 9: in rural areas. Those conditions make life under detention isolating 65 00:04:10,760 --> 00:04:15,080 Speaker 9: and miserable, and migrants held in remote facilities are more 66 00:04:15,240 --> 00:04:18,880 Speaker 9: likely to be deported than those detained in larger cities 67 00:04:19,279 --> 00:04:21,800 Speaker 9: because it's harder for them to access a lawyer who 68 00:04:21,880 --> 00:04:25,120 Speaker 9: can defend them in court, and since these detention centers 69 00:04:25,160 --> 00:04:30,320 Speaker 9: are sometimes hours away from larger cities, there's also often 70 00:04:30,400 --> 00:04:31,320 Speaker 9: little oversight. 71 00:04:31,680 --> 00:04:37,480 Speaker 10: I would suppose to be another principal cecil. 72 00:04:38,440 --> 00:04:43,360 Speaker 9: That's Jose Aguta, an asylum seeker from Alsavador who, at 73 00:04:43,360 --> 00:04:46,720 Speaker 9: the start of the COVID nineteen pandemic, was being held 74 00:04:46,880 --> 00:04:50,320 Speaker 9: along with close to a thousand other migrants at the 75 00:04:50,320 --> 00:04:55,160 Speaker 9: ote Mesa detention center. During one of our first conversations 76 00:04:55,240 --> 00:04:57,960 Speaker 9: last year, he told me that he was feeling sick 77 00:04:58,240 --> 00:05:00,280 Speaker 9: and that he had put in a medical record us 78 00:05:00,279 --> 00:05:04,839 Speaker 9: that morning, but by late afternoon no doctor had seen him. 79 00:05:05,480 --> 00:05:09,120 Speaker 9: Insufficient medical care wasn't the only thing Joset and his 80 00:05:09,240 --> 00:05:13,680 Speaker 9: pod mates were concerned about, though. Weeks before, he and 81 00:05:13,800 --> 00:05:17,320 Speaker 9: several other detainees held a hunger strike to protest the 82 00:05:17,360 --> 00:05:22,040 Speaker 9: conditions inside, but their life and detention only got worse. 83 00:05:22,680 --> 00:05:27,400 Speaker 9: Besides the lack of proper medical attention. Food also became 84 00:05:27,440 --> 00:05:29,880 Speaker 9: a problem. 85 00:05:30,640 --> 00:05:33,320 Speaker 10: Comina Alania Lancia. 86 00:05:41,200 --> 00:05:44,800 Speaker 9: Hosas said they were often served lunch past five pm 87 00:05:45,320 --> 00:05:49,480 Speaker 9: and that the food was expired. We'll hear more from 88 00:05:49,560 --> 00:05:52,560 Speaker 9: Hosea later, but let's take a step back for now. 89 00:05:53,480 --> 00:05:57,440 Speaker 9: In order to really understand the immigration detention system in 90 00:05:57,480 --> 00:05:59,760 Speaker 9: the United States, we need to go back to the 91 00:05:59,760 --> 00:06:02,440 Speaker 9: origins of the prison industry. 92 00:06:05,800 --> 00:06:10,359 Speaker 11: America's public enemy Number one in the United States is 93 00:06:10,600 --> 00:06:14,680 Speaker 11: drug abuse. In order to fight and defeat this enemy, 94 00:06:14,920 --> 00:06:19,040 Speaker 11: it is necessary to wage a new all out offensive. 95 00:06:19,839 --> 00:06:25,000 Speaker 9: On June seventeenth, nineteen seventy one, President Richard Nixon first 96 00:06:25,000 --> 00:06:28,719 Speaker 9: declared a war on drugs, and over a decade later, 97 00:06:29,040 --> 00:06:33,000 Speaker 9: in the midst of a worsening crack epidemic, President Ronald 98 00:06:33,080 --> 00:06:36,920 Speaker 9: Reagan recommitted to that fight, but this time with an 99 00:06:36,960 --> 00:06:41,599 Speaker 9: almost evangelical zeal. This is Reagan at the Department of 100 00:06:41,800 --> 00:06:44,520 Speaker 9: Justice in October of nineteen eighty two. 101 00:06:44,760 --> 00:06:47,159 Speaker 12: Today, I ask for your support and the support of 102 00:06:47,160 --> 00:06:50,960 Speaker 12: our people in this effort to fight the drug menace, 103 00:06:51,520 --> 00:06:54,799 Speaker 12: to eradicate the cancers of organized crime and public corruption, 104 00:06:55,560 --> 00:06:57,919 Speaker 12: to make our streets and houses safe again, and to 105 00:06:57,960 --> 00:07:01,120 Speaker 12: return America to the day's of respect for the law 106 00:07:01,920 --> 00:07:04,799 Speaker 12: and the rights of the innocent, Thank. 107 00:07:04,640 --> 00:07:05,280 Speaker 13: You very much. 108 00:07:09,040 --> 00:07:13,440 Speaker 9: By focusing on punishment over treatment of substance addiction, the 109 00:07:13,480 --> 00:07:16,680 Speaker 9: War on drugs laid the foundation to what we now 110 00:07:16,720 --> 00:07:22,040 Speaker 9: know as mass incarceration. To this day, the United States 111 00:07:22,120 --> 00:07:25,000 Speaker 9: has the highest rate of incarceration. 112 00:07:24,400 --> 00:07:27,600 Speaker 13: In the world. 113 00:07:28,600 --> 00:07:31,920 Speaker 9: To put it into context, when Reagan took office in 114 00:07:32,040 --> 00:07:35,560 Speaker 9: nineteen eighty one, there were around three hundred and five 115 00:07:35,720 --> 00:07:41,160 Speaker 9: thousand people in jails or prisons. By the time he 116 00:07:41,280 --> 00:07:44,720 Speaker 9: left the White House in nineteen eighty nine, that number 117 00:07:44,760 --> 00:07:49,040 Speaker 9: had exploded to more than seven hundred thousand, an increase 118 00:07:49,160 --> 00:07:53,560 Speaker 9: of over one hundred and thirty percent. A new jail 119 00:07:53,800 --> 00:07:57,680 Speaker 9: or prison facility opened every eight and a half days, 120 00:07:58,160 --> 00:08:03,400 Speaker 9: and black and brown people were vastly overrepresented in these facilities. 121 00:08:04,240 --> 00:08:07,560 Speaker 9: But the decades long drug offensive had a lesser known 122 00:08:07,680 --> 00:08:12,080 Speaker 9: impact on immigration. Here's Monica of the acou. 123 00:08:12,200 --> 00:08:18,800 Speaker 8: Again, there was this over projection of the need for 124 00:08:19,280 --> 00:08:23,120 Speaker 8: federal prisons, and so there was this over construction across 125 00:08:23,120 --> 00:08:26,080 Speaker 8: the country, and so a lot of those facilities were 126 00:08:26,120 --> 00:08:29,200 Speaker 8: repurposed as immigration detention facilities. 127 00:08:31,280 --> 00:08:34,080 Speaker 14: In less than ninety days between April and June of 128 00:08:34,160 --> 00:08:41,280 Speaker 14: nineteen eighty, more than one hundred ten thousand Cubans flee Cuba. 129 00:08:41,559 --> 00:08:44,160 Speaker 14: They come the one hundred forty kilometers from the Port 130 00:08:44,160 --> 00:08:48,200 Speaker 14: of Marriel to Key West, Florida in nearly two thousand bloods. 131 00:08:51,120 --> 00:08:54,679 Speaker 9: In the spring of nineteen eighty, during Jimmy Carter's last 132 00:08:54,720 --> 00:08:58,240 Speaker 9: year in the White House, thousands of Cubans arrived on 133 00:08:58,280 --> 00:09:01,480 Speaker 9: the shores of Florida. But they weren't the only ones 134 00:09:01,600 --> 00:09:05,640 Speaker 9: fleeing an oppressive regime back home. A few years earlier, 135 00:09:06,040 --> 00:09:09,240 Speaker 9: Haitians had also taken to the waters in a desperate 136 00:09:09,280 --> 00:09:14,439 Speaker 9: attempt to reach the US. At first, newly arrived Cubans 137 00:09:14,440 --> 00:09:18,080 Speaker 9: and Haitians were held in detention refugee camps or local 138 00:09:18,160 --> 00:09:23,120 Speaker 9: prisons across the country, from South Florida and Pennsylvania to 139 00:09:23,320 --> 00:09:28,000 Speaker 9: Arkansas and even Puerto Rico, but released fairly quickly through 140 00:09:28,040 --> 00:09:33,559 Speaker 9: a quote parole policy. But that didn't last long for Haitians. 141 00:09:34,000 --> 00:09:37,559 Speaker 15: When the Cubans fled their country because of possible political harassment, 142 00:09:37,760 --> 00:09:40,600 Speaker 15: they were greeted with open arms and given political asylum. 143 00:09:40,960 --> 00:09:43,760 Speaker 15: But when the Haitian refugees fled their country because of 144 00:09:43,800 --> 00:09:48,160 Speaker 15: alleged political persecution, they were greeted with lessened enthusiasm by 145 00:09:48,200 --> 00:09:49,240 Speaker 15: the American government. 146 00:09:49,960 --> 00:09:54,719 Speaker 9: That was the case because, despite being brutally oppressive, Haiti's dictator, 147 00:09:55,080 --> 00:09:59,720 Speaker 9: Jean Claude Baby Dog Douvallier, was seen as an ally 148 00:10:00,040 --> 00:10:02,360 Speaker 9: against communism to the US government. 149 00:10:02,600 --> 00:10:07,080 Speaker 4: The US government contends Haitian refugees or economic refugees, who 150 00:10:07,120 --> 00:10:10,520 Speaker 4: have fled their country because of its unhealthy economy, and 151 00:10:10,600 --> 00:10:13,480 Speaker 4: so far the government has denied political asylum. 152 00:10:13,559 --> 00:10:17,079 Speaker 9: Haitians alleged that their cases were being treated differently because 153 00:10:17,080 --> 00:10:21,120 Speaker 9: they were black, and as more poor black Haitians arrived 154 00:10:21,160 --> 00:10:25,840 Speaker 9: on US soil, it fueled anti black sentiments already brewing 155 00:10:25,880 --> 00:10:31,120 Speaker 9: in the US. In response, the newly minted Reagan administration 156 00:10:31,640 --> 00:10:35,560 Speaker 9: began using indefinite detention as a way to deter more 157 00:10:35,640 --> 00:10:40,400 Speaker 9: Haitians from attempting to migrate to the United States. As 158 00:10:40,440 --> 00:10:45,120 Speaker 9: a result, the Reagan administration was accused of being discriminatory 159 00:10:45,280 --> 00:10:50,400 Speaker 9: against Haitians since detention was solely applied to them, so 160 00:10:50,920 --> 00:10:56,239 Speaker 9: by nineteen eighty two, detention was extended to all undocumented migrants, 161 00:10:56,520 --> 00:11:02,760 Speaker 9: asylum seekers and refugees. Lead the more recently arrived Savadorans 162 00:11:03,160 --> 00:11:11,600 Speaker 9: endurance and watermalins to prove that it wasn't discriminatory. Then, 163 00:11:12,120 --> 00:11:16,520 Speaker 9: in nineteen eighty three, Tom Beasley and Don Huddo co 164 00:11:16,600 --> 00:11:21,920 Speaker 9: founded the Corrections Corporations of America, the first privately run 165 00:11:22,080 --> 00:11:28,800 Speaker 9: prison company in the world, and their first contract an 166 00:11:28,840 --> 00:11:37,400 Speaker 9: immigration detentionent center in Houston, Texas. This is audio from 167 00:11:37,440 --> 00:11:40,320 Speaker 9: a promotional video they had on their website in the 168 00:11:40,400 --> 00:11:41,240 Speaker 9: nineteen eighties. 169 00:11:41,720 --> 00:11:46,480 Speaker 16: His reputation caused a meeting to occur with the Veterle 170 00:11:46,480 --> 00:11:50,280 Speaker 16: Bureau of Prisons and the Immigration Service about a joint 171 00:11:50,360 --> 00:11:55,840 Speaker 16: venture in Texas to how's illegalaians and ou of that 172 00:11:56,000 --> 00:12:03,920 Speaker 16: grew an RFP, which was the first contract ever to design, build, finance, 173 00:12:03,960 --> 00:12:07,480 Speaker 16: and operate a secure correctional facility in the world. 174 00:12:12,520 --> 00:12:15,480 Speaker 8: We got our first days pay for eighty seven dollars 175 00:12:15,920 --> 00:12:17,040 Speaker 8: undocumented alien. 176 00:12:17,840 --> 00:12:22,080 Speaker 9: To spell it out, both private prisons and private detention 177 00:12:22,200 --> 00:12:26,560 Speaker 9: centers started out as business transactions under the guise of 178 00:12:26,600 --> 00:12:31,080 Speaker 9: public safety, and they are literally run by the same companies. 179 00:12:32,000 --> 00:12:36,679 Speaker 9: A year after the CCA was founded, Geogroup was established 180 00:12:36,720 --> 00:12:40,800 Speaker 9: and awarded a federal contract with an immigration detention facility 181 00:12:41,000 --> 00:12:47,600 Speaker 9: in Colorado. CCA later rebranded as Corcivic Geogroup and the 182 00:12:47,679 --> 00:12:51,960 Speaker 9: management and training Corporation became the largest prison companies in 183 00:12:52,000 --> 00:13:00,120 Speaker 9: the country. Now, out of the two hundred Ice detention center, 184 00:13:00,520 --> 00:13:04,800 Speaker 9: close to seventy percent are operated by a private prison company. 185 00:13:07,840 --> 00:13:11,400 Speaker 9: The War on Drugs blurred the lines between drug and 186 00:13:11,559 --> 00:13:17,040 Speaker 9: immigration enforcement. At the same time that the US was 187 00:13:17,120 --> 00:13:21,400 Speaker 9: ramping up tough on crime policies, similar measures were being 188 00:13:21,440 --> 00:13:26,840 Speaker 9: created to criminalize immigration. In nineteen eighty six, during his 189 00:13:27,000 --> 00:13:31,360 Speaker 9: second term in office, Reagan signed the Anti Drug Abuse Act, 190 00:13:31,840 --> 00:13:36,520 Speaker 9: known for creating mandatory minimum sentences for possession of crack cocaine. 191 00:13:37,600 --> 00:13:41,000 Speaker 9: Less known to people is that the new law also 192 00:13:41,280 --> 00:13:46,600 Speaker 9: amended the nineteen fifties Immigration and Nationality Act. The latter 193 00:13:46,760 --> 00:13:51,599 Speaker 9: fostered a relationship between local police and federal immigration officials 194 00:13:51,640 --> 00:13:57,360 Speaker 9: through something called detainers. Local police would arrest foreign citizens 195 00:13:57,480 --> 00:14:01,200 Speaker 9: and keep them in jail until immigrant officials could pick 196 00:14:01,240 --> 00:14:06,360 Speaker 9: them up and, in most cases for deportation proceedings. But 197 00:14:06,440 --> 00:14:09,640 Speaker 9: while Reagan and his War on Drugs laid the foundation 198 00:14:09,760 --> 00:14:14,800 Speaker 9: for mass incarceration of immigrants, it was the successors, Democrats 199 00:14:15,000 --> 00:14:21,680 Speaker 9: and Republicans alike, who escalated it. Take President Bill Clinton, 200 00:14:21,920 --> 00:14:26,800 Speaker 9: for example, a Democrat. This is him during his State 201 00:14:26,840 --> 00:14:29,680 Speaker 9: of the Union address in nineteen ninety five. 202 00:14:30,440 --> 00:14:34,240 Speaker 17: All Americans, not only in the states most heavily affected, 203 00:14:34,240 --> 00:14:36,720 Speaker 17: but in every place in this country, are rightly disturbed 204 00:14:36,720 --> 00:14:41,440 Speaker 17: by the large numbers of illegal aliens entering our country. 205 00:14:41,920 --> 00:14:45,520 Speaker 17: It is wrong and ultimately self defeating for a nation 206 00:14:45,600 --> 00:14:47,840 Speaker 17: of immigrants to permit the kind of abuse of our 207 00:14:47,880 --> 00:14:51,520 Speaker 17: immigration laws we have seen in recent years, and we 208 00:14:51,640 --> 00:14:56,960 Speaker 17: must do more to stop them. 209 00:14:57,160 --> 00:15:01,600 Speaker 9: In nineteen ninety six, Clinton signed the Era Era, the 210 00:15:01,840 --> 00:15:07,520 Speaker 9: Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act, which broughten who 211 00:15:07,560 --> 00:15:11,680 Speaker 9: was subject to mandatory detention to include asylum seekers and 212 00:15:11,840 --> 00:15:16,400 Speaker 9: refugees as their cases were pending in immigration court. And 213 00:15:16,800 --> 00:15:20,960 Speaker 9: this is actually really important to remember, the vast majority 214 00:15:20,960 --> 00:15:24,680 Speaker 9: of people held in immigration detention centers have not been 215 00:15:24,760 --> 00:15:29,680 Speaker 9: convicted of any crime. According to federal data collected by 216 00:15:29,760 --> 00:15:36,080 Speaker 9: Syracuse's Transactional Records Access clearing House, ninety eight percent of 217 00:15:36,200 --> 00:15:39,680 Speaker 9: migrants with a pending case and immigration court have been 218 00:15:39,800 --> 00:15:49,600 Speaker 9: charged with purely immigration violations. At the end of Clinton's 219 00:15:49,640 --> 00:15:54,520 Speaker 9: second term, the daily immigrant population and detention had tripled 220 00:15:54,520 --> 00:15:57,760 Speaker 9: from a little under seven thousand in nineteen ninety four 221 00:15:58,400 --> 00:16:03,080 Speaker 9: to twenty thousand, so by the time President Bush took office, 222 00:16:03,400 --> 00:16:08,880 Speaker 9: the use of detention for immigration enforcement was the standard practice. 223 00:16:10,520 --> 00:16:13,440 Speaker 13: Then the unthinkable happened. 224 00:16:15,200 --> 00:16:16,400 Speaker 4: The cups not answering. 225 00:16:16,480 --> 00:16:17,360 Speaker 6: Somebody is stabbed in. 226 00:16:17,400 --> 00:16:21,720 Speaker 14: Business clubs and I think there's mate that we can't breathe. 227 00:16:22,040 --> 00:16:22,520 Speaker 4: I don't know. 228 00:16:22,560 --> 00:16:23,720 Speaker 14: I think we'll get in hijack. 229 00:16:24,920 --> 00:16:29,600 Speaker 9: On September eleventh, two thousand and one, nineteen Islamic estreamists 230 00:16:30,040 --> 00:16:35,200 Speaker 9: hijacked four domestic airplanes. Betty On, a flight attendant on 231 00:16:35,320 --> 00:16:40,120 Speaker 9: American Airline's Flight eleven, called the reservation desk in Boston 232 00:16:40,240 --> 00:16:43,480 Speaker 9: through an airphone after her colleagues were stabbed. 233 00:16:44,800 --> 00:16:55,080 Speaker 18: What's going on, Betty, Betty Cock, Betty be there. I 234 00:16:55,080 --> 00:16:56,120 Speaker 18: think we might have lost her. 235 00:16:59,600 --> 00:17:03,560 Speaker 9: The tears, mostly from Saudi Arabia, had lived in the 236 00:17:03,680 --> 00:17:08,040 Speaker 9: United States for a while before September eleven, some for 237 00:17:08,240 --> 00:17:13,040 Speaker 9: up to two years. They rented apartments, obtained driver's license, 238 00:17:13,760 --> 00:17:18,320 Speaker 9: one purchased a car, and others took flight lessons. Some 239 00:17:18,800 --> 00:17:24,320 Speaker 9: even had student visas. The ease in which the hijackers 240 00:17:24,640 --> 00:17:28,840 Speaker 9: entered the United States and plotted and executed the terrorist 241 00:17:28,880 --> 00:17:35,000 Speaker 9: attacks increased national security concerns. At the same time, xenophobic 242 00:17:35,080 --> 00:17:41,080 Speaker 9: sentiments rose against Muslims, and those anxieties eventually extended towards 243 00:17:41,240 --> 00:17:50,200 Speaker 9: all immigrants. The War on Terror morphed into the War on. 244 00:17:50,240 --> 00:17:55,840 Speaker 13: Immigration, coming up on Latino USA. 245 00:17:56,320 --> 00:18:00,359 Speaker 2: As the immigrant population under government custody grows, so do 246 00:18:00,480 --> 00:18:05,800 Speaker 2: allegations of systemic abuse inside detention centers. Stay with us 247 00:18:06,200 --> 00:18:59,760 Speaker 2: not the way, Yes, hey, we're back. The creation of 248 00:18:59,800 --> 00:19:03,760 Speaker 2: the first private prison company in the world marked the 249 00:19:03,840 --> 00:19:09,040 Speaker 2: beginnings of the for profit model for prisons and detention centers. 250 00:19:09,760 --> 00:19:14,159 Speaker 2: Now how the detention industry has ballooned into a sprawling 251 00:19:14,280 --> 00:19:20,000 Speaker 2: network right with allegations of abuse. Here's reporter jess Alvarenga 252 00:19:20,119 --> 00:19:21,480 Speaker 2: with the rest of the story. 253 00:19:22,640 --> 00:19:25,000 Speaker 7: With my signature, this Act of Congress will create a 254 00:19:25,040 --> 00:19:30,080 Speaker 7: new Department of Homeland Security, ensuring that our efforts to 255 00:19:30,080 --> 00:19:34,560 Speaker 7: defend this country are comprehensive and united. 256 00:19:37,480 --> 00:19:41,720 Speaker 9: The Homeland Security Act of two thousand and two consolidated 257 00:19:41,800 --> 00:19:46,960 Speaker 9: twenty two federal agencies under one umbrella, the Department of 258 00:19:47,119 --> 00:19:54,080 Speaker 9: Homeland Security. New agencies reformed, including ICE, the Immigration and 259 00:19:54,160 --> 00:19:59,760 Speaker 9: Customs Enforcement agency responsible for the detention and deportation of 260 00:19:59,760 --> 00:20:08,000 Speaker 9: mine migrants. In two thousand and five, four years after 261 00:20:08,040 --> 00:20:11,480 Speaker 9: the nine to eleven attacks, the Department of Homeland Security 262 00:20:11,600 --> 00:20:17,320 Speaker 9: implemented Operation Streamline, allowing for federal criminal charges against all 263 00:20:17,359 --> 00:20:21,880 Speaker 9: migrants who dared to enter the United States without proper documentation. 264 00:20:23,119 --> 00:20:27,640 Speaker 9: A first attempt could mean a misdemeanor charge. A second 265 00:20:27,760 --> 00:20:31,760 Speaker 9: unauthorized entry could be prosecuted as a felony, with up 266 00:20:31,800 --> 00:20:37,320 Speaker 9: to twenty years in prison. To date, operation Streamline has 267 00:20:37,359 --> 00:20:41,840 Speaker 9: resulted in the detention of hundreds of thousands of undocumented migrants. 268 00:20:42,720 --> 00:20:46,159 Speaker 9: It wouldn't be until Barack Obama took office that the 269 00:20:46,160 --> 00:20:50,560 Speaker 9: focus of immigration detention would switch to those only posing 270 00:20:50,600 --> 00:20:51,919 Speaker 9: a danger to society. 271 00:20:52,520 --> 00:20:58,560 Speaker 11: Criminals, not children, gang members, not a mom who's working 272 00:20:58,560 --> 00:20:59,800 Speaker 11: hard to provide for our kids. 273 00:21:00,840 --> 00:21:06,240 Speaker 9: Well, at least that's what they claimed. In reality, more 274 00:21:06,280 --> 00:21:11,080 Speaker 9: than three million immigrants, many with no criminal record, were 275 00:21:11,160 --> 00:21:16,360 Speaker 9: detained and expelled, giving Obama the infamous title of Deporter 276 00:21:16,560 --> 00:21:21,800 Speaker 9: and Chief. What followed was even more unprecedented. 277 00:21:22,240 --> 00:21:26,160 Speaker 11: When Mexico sends its people, they're not sending their best. 278 00:21:26,760 --> 00:21:29,919 Speaker 6: They're bringing drugs, they're bringing crime. 279 00:21:29,880 --> 00:21:33,439 Speaker 9: And well we all know how that turned out. The 280 00:21:33,520 --> 00:21:38,520 Speaker 9: immigration detention system saw a massive explosion in a relatively 281 00:21:38,640 --> 00:21:43,080 Speaker 9: short period of time. Here's Monica of the acou again. 282 00:21:43,640 --> 00:21:46,840 Speaker 8: We went from sixty seven hundred people in nineteen ninety 283 00:21:46,840 --> 00:21:51,120 Speaker 8: four to over fifty thousand people per day in twenty nineteen. 284 00:21:51,840 --> 00:21:56,480 Speaker 9: And let's not forget immigration detention is a lucrative business, 285 00:21:56,920 --> 00:22:01,480 Speaker 9: and private prison companies are cashing in the biggest checks. 286 00:22:02,119 --> 00:22:03,639 Speaker 13: In twenty twenty, the. 287 00:22:03,520 --> 00:22:09,320 Speaker 9: Federal budget for ICE, which again oversees immigration detention, was 288 00:22:09,440 --> 00:22:13,160 Speaker 9: a point four billion dollars, a six percent increase from 289 00:22:13,200 --> 00:22:17,080 Speaker 9: the previous year. Part of that money went to Core Civic, 290 00:22:17,400 --> 00:22:22,200 Speaker 9: which last year reported one point nine billion dollars in revenue. 291 00:22:23,000 --> 00:22:26,320 Speaker 8: It's important to recognize the way that introducing the use 292 00:22:26,359 --> 00:22:29,640 Speaker 8: and the over reliance on private detention adds a whole 293 00:22:29,720 --> 00:22:33,520 Speaker 8: layer of like, you know, the profit motive that incentivizes 294 00:22:33,600 --> 00:22:37,560 Speaker 8: mistreatment and an abuse by encouraging corporation to keep costs 295 00:22:37,560 --> 00:22:40,840 Speaker 8: down in order to increase profits. 296 00:22:44,640 --> 00:22:47,200 Speaker 9: And that all really came front and center during the 297 00:22:47,200 --> 00:22:57,240 Speaker 9: COVID nineteen pandemic. It's April of twenty twenty, the state 298 00:22:57,280 --> 00:23:02,320 Speaker 9: of California, where I live, was on complete lockdown. Grocery 299 00:23:02,320 --> 00:23:06,520 Speaker 9: store shelves remained empty for weeks on end. My classes 300 00:23:06,560 --> 00:23:11,359 Speaker 9: at UC Berkeley were canceled indefinitely, and some people prepared 301 00:23:11,400 --> 00:23:16,760 Speaker 9: for a life of working from home, an apocalyptic silent spring. 302 00:23:23,680 --> 00:23:26,960 Speaker 9: Yet that was far from the reality for Jose, the 303 00:23:27,040 --> 00:23:30,679 Speaker 9: asylum seeker at the ote Messa detention center we first 304 00:23:30,720 --> 00:23:32,720 Speaker 9: heard from earlier in the story. 305 00:23:38,080 --> 00:23:45,840 Speaker 10: Got Weil, essentially mascot. 306 00:23:46,560 --> 00:23:50,560 Speaker 9: The entire detention center was under quarantine, and more and 307 00:23:50,680 --> 00:23:53,879 Speaker 9: more people in hostess Pod kept showing up positive for 308 00:23:54,040 --> 00:24:02,960 Speaker 9: COVID nineteen. In his native El Salvador, Jose didn't hide 309 00:24:03,119 --> 00:24:07,800 Speaker 9: his homosexuality, but his bravery in a highly conservative country 310 00:24:08,440 --> 00:24:13,800 Speaker 9: literally had a price. For months, Josse and his boyfriend 311 00:24:13,880 --> 00:24:16,840 Speaker 9: were forced to pay an extortion fee to local gang 312 00:24:16,920 --> 00:24:21,879 Speaker 9: members to stay alive, But after the same gang members 313 00:24:21,960 --> 00:24:26,960 Speaker 9: severely beat an assaulted Jose and his boyfriend, they knew 314 00:24:27,119 --> 00:24:32,560 Speaker 9: they had to flee for their lives. Josse believed the 315 00:24:32,760 --> 00:24:36,600 Speaker 9: United States would be a haven for the LGBTQ community 316 00:24:37,240 --> 00:24:41,560 Speaker 9: and he could live freely as a gay man, but 317 00:24:41,800 --> 00:24:45,200 Speaker 9: violence and intimidation followed him everywhere. 318 00:24:52,680 --> 00:25:00,920 Speaker 19: And the MOO in Mexico means and austos the Mattos. 319 00:25:02,440 --> 00:25:07,119 Speaker 9: Three months after leaving Elsavador, Jose and his boyfriend arrived 320 00:25:07,160 --> 00:25:11,240 Speaker 9: in Mexico, where he said they were discriminated against two 321 00:25:12,160 --> 00:25:17,600 Speaker 9: and kidnapped. Still, they persisted and continued on the journey north, 322 00:25:18,480 --> 00:25:20,800 Speaker 9: but when they got to the border, they were forced 323 00:25:20,840 --> 00:25:25,960 Speaker 9: to remain in Mexico under Trump's Migrant Protections Protocols program. 324 00:25:26,960 --> 00:25:30,000 Speaker 9: It would be three more months until they could finally 325 00:25:30,119 --> 00:25:32,959 Speaker 9: start their asylum process as part of the less than 326 00:25:33,119 --> 00:25:36,359 Speaker 9: one percent of migrants that were allowed in the country 327 00:25:36,480 --> 00:25:41,480 Speaker 9: while the so called remain in Mexico policy was in effect. Still, 328 00:25:42,040 --> 00:25:45,199 Speaker 9: instead of being allowed to stay with their sponsors, they 329 00:25:45,240 --> 00:25:49,080 Speaker 9: were sent to the ote Messi detention Center a month 330 00:25:49,640 --> 00:25:54,200 Speaker 9: before the pandemic hit. When I called Jose in April 331 00:25:54,400 --> 00:25:58,280 Speaker 9: of twenty twenty, he told me COVID nineteen had spread 332 00:25:58,359 --> 00:26:07,440 Speaker 9: like wildfire inside the detention center. He said everyone in 333 00:26:07,560 --> 00:26:12,400 Speaker 9: his pod was feeling sick, including him. Standing at three 334 00:26:12,520 --> 00:26:17,399 Speaker 9: hundred and fifty thousand square feet, ote Mesa, which is 335 00:26:17,600 --> 00:26:22,520 Speaker 9: owned by CoreCivic, has a capacity to hold nearly one thousand, 336 00:26:22,680 --> 00:26:26,640 Speaker 9: five hundred migrants, making it the second largest detention center 337 00:26:26,800 --> 00:26:30,520 Speaker 9: in California and one of the fifteen biggest in the nation. 338 00:26:31,800 --> 00:26:33,000 Speaker 14: Person and. 339 00:26:36,760 --> 00:26:43,439 Speaker 19: Persona has son Intu and Tutans Fromo simto Sinto. 340 00:26:46,600 --> 00:26:49,000 Speaker 9: Jose told me there were over one hundred people in 341 00:26:49,080 --> 00:26:53,399 Speaker 9: his pod, with eight people sleeping in each cell, making 342 00:26:53,480 --> 00:26:59,480 Speaker 9: it nearly impossible to social distance. Soon after, Jose became 343 00:26:59,520 --> 00:27:02,880 Speaker 9: one of the twenty seven thousand migrants to test positive 344 00:27:02,920 --> 00:27:07,960 Speaker 9: for COVID nineteen inside an ICE detention center. At the time, 345 00:27:08,760 --> 00:27:13,040 Speaker 9: oate Mesa actually had the largest outbreak of COVID nineteen 346 00:27:13,240 --> 00:27:17,199 Speaker 9: among all ICE detention centers in the nation, and although 347 00:27:17,440 --> 00:27:22,000 Speaker 9: many like Jose recovered fully, some weren't so lucky. 348 00:27:22,359 --> 00:27:26,280 Speaker 1: His name is mister Carlos Escobar. He was actually someone 349 00:27:26,359 --> 00:27:27,560 Speaker 1: that was in our unit. 350 00:27:28,160 --> 00:27:33,760 Speaker 9: Carlos Ernesto Escobarmehia, a fifty seven year old Salvadoran man, 351 00:27:34,359 --> 00:27:37,040 Speaker 9: had been living in the United States for over forty 352 00:27:37,200 --> 00:27:40,760 Speaker 9: years when in January twenty twenty he was brought to 353 00:27:40,880 --> 00:27:41,639 Speaker 9: oate Mesa. 354 00:27:41,960 --> 00:27:44,280 Speaker 1: He had diabetes and he had other problems. 355 00:27:44,760 --> 00:27:50,399 Speaker 9: That's Oscar, an immigrant from Osavador, and Carlos Podmey. Oscar 356 00:27:50,560 --> 00:27:54,040 Speaker 9: said he witnessed Carlos begged the detention center staff for 357 00:27:54,200 --> 00:27:57,800 Speaker 9: proper medical attention, but that he didn't receive much care. 358 00:27:58,400 --> 00:28:01,040 Speaker 1: The only thing that they would do was give him 359 00:28:01,160 --> 00:28:05,159 Speaker 1: either profin or taylanol or cold medicine and send him 360 00:28:05,200 --> 00:28:08,520 Speaker 1: back in Provence to continue to feel bad. China for sick. 361 00:28:08,359 --> 00:28:11,880 Speaker 9: Called Carlos had tested positive for COVID nineteen. 362 00:28:12,200 --> 00:28:14,720 Speaker 1: He couldn't even move, he could burn, even speak, until 363 00:28:14,760 --> 00:28:17,480 Speaker 1: they finally decided to move him out of our unit. 364 00:28:17,960 --> 00:28:21,200 Speaker 9: He was transported to a hospital and placed on a ventilator, 365 00:28:22,080 --> 00:28:23,080 Speaker 9: but it was too late. 366 00:28:23,440 --> 00:28:25,840 Speaker 15: Earlier this month, the fifty seven year old man died 367 00:28:25,880 --> 00:28:26,800 Speaker 15: of COVID nineteen. 368 00:28:26,920 --> 00:28:28,679 Speaker 13: He'd been hospitalized since April. 369 00:28:29,280 --> 00:28:34,320 Speaker 9: On May sixth, twenty twenty, at two fifteen am, Carlos 370 00:28:34,440 --> 00:28:38,640 Speaker 9: died due to COVID nineteen complications. He became the first 371 00:28:38,720 --> 00:28:43,280 Speaker 9: reported death of the pandemic in ice custody. At least 372 00:28:43,400 --> 00:28:44,880 Speaker 9: nine others would follow. 373 00:28:45,360 --> 00:28:47,160 Speaker 1: I want people to know what's going on in here, 374 00:28:47,240 --> 00:28:50,400 Speaker 1: because our lives are are in danger. You were exceeding 375 00:28:50,520 --> 00:28:53,120 Speaker 1: the allowable time for this call. He won't. 376 00:29:00,200 --> 00:29:03,800 Speaker 9: COVID nineteen isn't the first health crisis inside the Ota 377 00:29:03,960 --> 00:29:08,160 Speaker 9: Messa detention centers. For years, the facility has been plagued 378 00:29:08,240 --> 00:29:10,400 Speaker 9: with allegations of systemic abuse. 379 00:29:12,080 --> 00:29:16,840 Speaker 8: While horrific in its own right, the kind of abuse 380 00:29:16,880 --> 00:29:19,680 Speaker 8: and misconduct that we all sort of saw with the 381 00:29:19,720 --> 00:29:24,120 Speaker 8: magnifying glass during the pandemic at Otemesa is not new. 382 00:29:25,080 --> 00:29:29,720 Speaker 8: The ote mesa detention center for years, for decades, has 383 00:29:30,720 --> 00:29:34,920 Speaker 8: been accused of failing to provide for the health and 384 00:29:35,000 --> 00:29:36,560 Speaker 8: well being of people in its custody. 385 00:29:38,400 --> 00:29:39,480 Speaker 13: That's Monica again. 386 00:29:40,240 --> 00:29:43,760 Speaker 9: Earlier this year, she and several of her colleagues published 387 00:29:43,760 --> 00:29:48,480 Speaker 9: a brief titled core Civix Decades of Abuse Ota Messa 388 00:29:48,600 --> 00:29:53,560 Speaker 9: Detention Center. Spanning over forty pages, The brief consists of 389 00:29:53,600 --> 00:29:58,600 Speaker 9: a series of complaints, lawsuits, and whistleblower reports that detail 390 00:29:58,680 --> 00:30:03,160 Speaker 9: the grim conditions inside the detention center, such as inadequate 391 00:30:03,280 --> 00:30:08,160 Speaker 9: medical care, failure to contain communicable disease in a timely manner, 392 00:30:08,720 --> 00:30:13,040 Speaker 9: and a culture of violence and sexual assault, particularly towards 393 00:30:13,200 --> 00:30:18,440 Speaker 9: LGBTQ plus individuals. Cour Civic said the report was driven 394 00:30:18,600 --> 00:30:21,959 Speaker 9: by the aco used desire to end the private prison system, 395 00:30:22,440 --> 00:30:27,440 Speaker 9: and it denied the findings, calling them specious and sensationalized allegations. 396 00:30:28,080 --> 00:30:31,520 Speaker 8: There's this story that always stays with me about the 397 00:30:31,560 --> 00:30:36,960 Speaker 8: swoman Rubia Mabel. She was pregnant and she was having 398 00:30:37,280 --> 00:30:41,840 Speaker 8: pain and bleeding while pregnant and confined, and she pleaded 399 00:30:41,960 --> 00:30:44,200 Speaker 8: for every day for two weeks to see a doctor, 400 00:30:44,960 --> 00:30:48,040 Speaker 8: and she was ignored, and when she was finally seen, 401 00:30:48,120 --> 00:30:51,760 Speaker 8: by hospital staff. She learned that she had suffered a 402 00:30:51,840 --> 00:30:54,320 Speaker 8: miscarriage that likely could have been prevented if she had 403 00:30:54,400 --> 00:30:57,800 Speaker 8: received medical attention sooner. For me, at least, it makes 404 00:30:57,840 --> 00:30:59,920 Speaker 8: it really clear that well, of course, the facility was 405 00:31:00,160 --> 00:31:03,160 Speaker 8: not going to be prepared to respond during a pandemic. 406 00:31:03,600 --> 00:31:08,160 Speaker 9: But inadequate medical care and outbreaks of infectious disease aren't 407 00:31:08,480 --> 00:31:12,320 Speaker 9: just a problem at O Tay Mesa. In fact, Ota 408 00:31:12,520 --> 00:31:16,240 Speaker 9: Mesa is a microcosm of what's going on inside the 409 00:31:16,400 --> 00:31:21,280 Speaker 9: nearly two hundred immigration facilities in the ICE detention network. 410 00:31:22,760 --> 00:31:27,000 Speaker 9: In October of twenty eighteen, five cases of mumps were 411 00:31:27,080 --> 00:31:32,360 Speaker 9: reported among migrants and two detention facilities in Texas. By December, 412 00:31:32,800 --> 00:31:36,719 Speaker 9: the positive cases had jumped to sixty seven in fourteen 413 00:31:37,000 --> 00:31:41,840 Speaker 9: detention centers, and by August twenty nineteen, there were nearly 414 00:31:42,120 --> 00:31:48,920 Speaker 9: nine hundred patients across fifty seven facilities nationwide. But outbreaks 415 00:31:48,920 --> 00:31:53,360 Speaker 9: aren't the only thing haunting migrants and ICE facilities. Sometimes 416 00:31:53,600 --> 00:31:59,720 Speaker 9: it's the staff themselves. Just last year, in September twenty twenty, Dawn, 417 00:32:00,640 --> 00:32:04,520 Speaker 9: a licensed nurse formerly at the Irwin County Detention Center, 418 00:32:05,080 --> 00:32:09,520 Speaker 9: a privately run facility in rural Georgia, filed a whistleblower 419 00:32:09,640 --> 00:32:15,200 Speaker 9: complaint alleging medical and safety violations towards migrants. The most 420 00:32:15,280 --> 00:32:20,520 Speaker 9: alarming allegation was that migrant women were receiving hysterectomies, an 421 00:32:20,640 --> 00:32:25,360 Speaker 9: invasive and irreversible surgery, without informed consent. 422 00:32:26,320 --> 00:32:30,560 Speaker 4: I had several detained women on numerous occasions that would 423 00:32:31,040 --> 00:32:34,880 Speaker 4: come to me and say, miss Wooten, I had hysterectomy. 424 00:32:35,760 --> 00:32:35,920 Speaker 12: Why. 425 00:32:36,600 --> 00:32:40,760 Speaker 10: I had no answers as to why they had those procedures. 426 00:32:41,480 --> 00:32:45,480 Speaker 9: Forty women have since submitted their testimony in a lawsuit 427 00:32:45,720 --> 00:32:50,760 Speaker 9: against ICE and doctor Mahendra Amen And in August of 428 00:32:50,880 --> 00:32:55,640 Speaker 9: this year, detainees at the Mesa Verde Detention Center filed 429 00:32:55,640 --> 00:32:59,840 Speaker 9: a complaint against ICE, alleging that they were retaliated against 430 00:33:00,040 --> 00:33:04,200 Speaker 9: after filing grievances about the conditions within the center. When 431 00:33:04,280 --> 00:33:08,239 Speaker 9: migrants held a hunger strike protesting the conditions, they were 432 00:33:08,320 --> 00:33:13,280 Speaker 9: allegedly pepper sprayed, placed in solitary confinement, and revoked of 433 00:33:13,400 --> 00:33:19,760 Speaker 9: their recreational time. The allegations of abuse within ICE facilities. 434 00:33:19,280 --> 00:33:20,240 Speaker 1: Go on and on. 435 00:33:21,520 --> 00:33:24,440 Speaker 13: We reached out to ICE for comment, but we didn't 436 00:33:24,440 --> 00:33:27,360 Speaker 13: hear back from them. For years. 437 00:33:27,880 --> 00:33:31,800 Speaker 9: Advocates have called on the closures of detention centers, and 438 00:33:31,920 --> 00:33:36,200 Speaker 9: in the early days of his administration, President Biden agreed 439 00:33:36,280 --> 00:33:39,480 Speaker 9: with them, well, at least partially. 440 00:33:39,960 --> 00:33:41,240 Speaker 8: Private detention centers. 441 00:33:41,440 --> 00:33:44,760 Speaker 17: They should not exist, and we are working to close 442 00:33:45,000 --> 00:33:45,880 Speaker 17: all of them. 443 00:33:46,880 --> 00:33:50,920 Speaker 9: The COVID nineteen pandemic has shown that immigration enforcement without 444 00:33:51,000 --> 00:33:52,720 Speaker 9: detention is possible. 445 00:33:53,360 --> 00:33:57,560 Speaker 8: We filed Rodriguas Alcantara vi Arschimbeau here in the Southern 446 00:33:57,600 --> 00:33:59,320 Speaker 8: District of California and federal court. 447 00:33:59,720 --> 00:34:03,640 Speaker 9: In April twenty twenty, Monica and her colleagues filed a 448 00:34:03,680 --> 00:34:07,680 Speaker 9: class action lawsuit on behalf of the medically vulnerable population 449 00:34:07,960 --> 00:34:08,560 Speaker 9: detained there. 450 00:34:08,800 --> 00:34:10,840 Speaker 8: We learned about a lot of these conditions of confinement 451 00:34:10,920 --> 00:34:13,960 Speaker 8: that made it really clear that neither Corsivic nor I 452 00:34:14,120 --> 00:34:18,680 Speaker 8: said Otei Mesa were responding to the threat of the 453 00:34:18,760 --> 00:34:21,880 Speaker 8: pandemic the way that they should, particularly where there were 454 00:34:22,600 --> 00:34:24,520 Speaker 8: hundreds of people entrusted to their care. 455 00:34:25,080 --> 00:34:28,520 Speaker 13: The lawsuit argued that the conditions inside the detention center 456 00:34:28,600 --> 00:34:32,479 Speaker 13: were so unsafe for medically vulnerable people that they would 457 00:34:32,719 --> 00:34:36,520 Speaker 13: likely suffer irreparable harm if they continued to be detained 458 00:34:36,600 --> 00:34:37,560 Speaker 13: during the pandemic. 459 00:34:37,920 --> 00:34:41,320 Speaker 8: It was a temporary restraining order that ultimately facilitated the 460 00:34:41,400 --> 00:34:43,760 Speaker 8: release of almost one hundred people from o Tei Mesa 461 00:34:43,840 --> 00:34:45,680 Speaker 8: in the matter of a few weeks. 462 00:34:46,120 --> 00:34:48,480 Speaker 9: It was one of the first lawsuits to be filed 463 00:34:48,520 --> 00:34:53,279 Speaker 9: across the country. Soon other organizations filed similar cases, in 464 00:34:53,400 --> 00:34:57,320 Speaker 9: one leading to the release of thousands of migrants across 465 00:34:57,400 --> 00:35:01,800 Speaker 9: the nation. By February twenty t twenty one, a record 466 00:35:01,920 --> 00:35:05,839 Speaker 9: low of thirteen thousand immigrants were detained in ice facilities. 467 00:35:06,000 --> 00:35:10,480 Speaker 9: According to TRACK, in twenty nineteen, close to fifty seven 468 00:35:10,600 --> 00:35:15,680 Speaker 9: thousand immigrants were under custody, and despite the dwindling detention numbers, 469 00:35:16,239 --> 00:35:19,040 Speaker 9: the immigration court system never collapsed. 470 00:35:19,440 --> 00:35:22,960 Speaker 8: People can and will show up to their immigration court hearings. 471 00:35:23,000 --> 00:35:25,920 Speaker 8: People have reasons to want to follow through with their 472 00:35:25,960 --> 00:35:29,120 Speaker 8: immigration court processes, and they do. They do it time 473 00:35:29,200 --> 00:35:33,359 Speaker 8: and time again. Right now, we have an active non 474 00:35:33,480 --> 00:35:39,000 Speaker 8: detained immigration court docket where people have court hearings, and 475 00:35:39,120 --> 00:35:41,640 Speaker 8: they show up to their hearings, and when their hearings 476 00:35:41,680 --> 00:35:45,000 Speaker 8: are over, they go home to their families or maybe 477 00:35:45,040 --> 00:35:48,520 Speaker 8: they meet in person with their lawyers and they participate 478 00:35:48,680 --> 00:35:51,000 Speaker 8: meaningfully in their defenses to deportation. 479 00:35:51,760 --> 00:35:56,080 Speaker 9: The release of migrants also revealed how expensive detention is. 480 00:35:56,719 --> 00:36:00,600 Speaker 9: When the federal government. In this case, ICE makes a 481 00:36:00,680 --> 00:36:04,240 Speaker 9: contract with a private prison company to operate a detention 482 00:36:04,400 --> 00:36:07,839 Speaker 9: center for them. They tend to include a detention bed 483 00:36:08,000 --> 00:36:13,480 Speaker 9: quota known as guaranteed minimums into their contracts. Monica breaks 484 00:36:13,520 --> 00:36:14,160 Speaker 9: it down for us. 485 00:36:14,600 --> 00:36:17,719 Speaker 8: I'll talk specifically about the Otaime Masa Detention Center. The 486 00:36:17,800 --> 00:36:21,400 Speaker 8: Otai Masa Detention Center has capacity for around twelve hundred 487 00:36:21,440 --> 00:36:25,320 Speaker 8: people in ICE detention. The federal government guarantees cour Civic, 488 00:36:25,440 --> 00:36:29,480 Speaker 8: the private facility operator, a minimum of one hundred and 489 00:36:29,480 --> 00:36:33,080 Speaker 8: fifty four dollars and twenty four cents per person per 490 00:36:33,239 --> 00:36:36,239 Speaker 8: day for up to six hundred beds, and so they 491 00:36:36,440 --> 00:36:39,719 Speaker 8: pay the facility operator that amount of money to guarantee 492 00:36:39,760 --> 00:36:41,080 Speaker 8: the use of those beds. 493 00:36:41,280 --> 00:36:44,840 Speaker 9: And the federal government is paying that amount regardless of 494 00:36:44,960 --> 00:36:48,120 Speaker 9: the bed is occupied or not, which is what happened 495 00:36:48,320 --> 00:36:49,440 Speaker 9: during the pandemic. 496 00:36:50,000 --> 00:36:53,520 Speaker 8: The actual population of these facilities is far below what 497 00:36:53,680 --> 00:36:56,960 Speaker 8: those guaranteed minimums are, and so it's resulting in the 498 00:36:57,080 --> 00:36:59,560 Speaker 8: wasting of over a million dollars per day. And that's 499 00:36:59,680 --> 00:37:02,440 Speaker 8: you know, a million dollars in tax dollars. That's what 500 00:37:02,560 --> 00:37:06,520 Speaker 8: you and I pay to guarantee beds that are actually 501 00:37:06,640 --> 00:37:07,880 Speaker 8: empty at these facilities. 502 00:37:08,800 --> 00:37:13,360 Speaker 9: The movement to close private ice facilities predates the pandemic, though. 503 00:37:13,520 --> 00:37:16,759 Speaker 5: California just passed a bill banning for profit prisons and 504 00:37:16,960 --> 00:37:19,719 Speaker 5: immigrant detention centers, with all of them being phased out 505 00:37:19,760 --> 00:37:21,080 Speaker 5: by twenty twenty eight. 506 00:37:21,960 --> 00:37:26,040 Speaker 9: In twenty nineteen, California passed a bill that would prohibit 507 00:37:26,200 --> 00:37:30,480 Speaker 9: new contracts or the renewal of established contracts with the 508 00:37:30,600 --> 00:37:35,080 Speaker 9: federal government and private prisons in the state. Similar laws 509 00:37:35,160 --> 00:37:40,320 Speaker 9: have passed in Illinois, New Jersey, and Washington, and in 510 00:37:40,480 --> 00:37:45,839 Speaker 9: May of twenty twenty one, Homeland Security Secretary Alexandro Majorcas 511 00:37:46,360 --> 00:37:50,800 Speaker 9: instructed the closing of two ice detention facilities, including the 512 00:37:50,920 --> 00:37:55,560 Speaker 9: Irwin County Detention Center we heard about earlier, But activists 513 00:37:55,600 --> 00:37:59,719 Speaker 9: say their apparent victories are short lived. As the world 514 00:37:59,760 --> 00:38:11,160 Speaker 9: starts it's opening back up, so are detention centers. By 515 00:38:11,280 --> 00:38:15,239 Speaker 9: August twenty twenty one, the number of migrants detained in 516 00:38:15,440 --> 00:38:20,440 Speaker 9: ice facilities doubled to over twenty five thousand, compared to 517 00:38:20,600 --> 00:38:22,640 Speaker 9: the record low earlier this year. 518 00:38:23,520 --> 00:38:28,960 Speaker 20: Lascho Parlos per migrad Paramino everex Is still locate location 519 00:38:29,160 --> 00:38:33,400 Speaker 20: Centro de Tensium None Familia and the Separana Tu Siho 520 00:38:33,520 --> 00:38:47,840 Speaker 20: on the cepara and at parejambio. Nooma porque standi siendosango fendihindo. 521 00:38:48,120 --> 00:38:49,200 Speaker 13: That's Jose again. 522 00:38:49,920 --> 00:38:53,080 Speaker 9: I spoke to him and his partner Alexi in September, 523 00:38:53,600 --> 00:38:56,040 Speaker 9: a little over a year after they were released from 524 00:38:56,080 --> 00:39:00,399 Speaker 9: ote Mesa. They're back in California after spending some time 525 00:39:00,480 --> 00:39:02,800 Speaker 9: in New Mexico, where their sponsor. 526 00:39:02,440 --> 00:39:14,799 Speaker 21: Lives Berdoras andos Conendos Mexicosia and. 527 00:39:14,880 --> 00:39:21,480 Speaker 9: Linda, their sponsor, Alexi says, taught them how to grow 528 00:39:21,560 --> 00:39:26,400 Speaker 9: their own food like eggplants, bell peppers, and cucumbers, and 529 00:39:26,719 --> 00:39:29,960 Speaker 9: they even adopted a dog from a local shelter. But 530 00:39:30,080 --> 00:39:33,200 Speaker 9: their fight isn't over. They have a new court date 531 00:39:33,320 --> 00:39:37,080 Speaker 9: later this month, another step on their long road ahead 532 00:39:37,560 --> 00:39:40,920 Speaker 9: to achieve the freedom they saw when they left their home. 533 00:39:40,800 --> 00:39:58,000 Speaker 20: Countrymente called mi permiso, bisocialitymi residencia permanente and sandola a 534 00:39:58,040 --> 00:40:00,799 Speaker 20: visaesa now, he said, to this. 535 00:40:00,920 --> 00:40:14,400 Speaker 9: Day, Jose wants to apply for his residency so he 536 00:40:14,480 --> 00:40:17,080 Speaker 9: can one day help his mom get a tourist visa. 537 00:40:17,640 --> 00:40:19,800 Speaker 13: He hasn't seen her in five years. 538 00:40:23,920 --> 00:40:26,520 Speaker 20: Soma grande propria. 539 00:40:29,760 --> 00:40:33,800 Speaker 9: But above all, Jose and Alexei wants to buy a 540 00:40:33,920 --> 00:40:37,080 Speaker 9: house with many rooms so they too can be a 541 00:40:37,200 --> 00:40:40,440 Speaker 9: refuge for migrants in the l g B t Q community, 542 00:40:41,239 --> 00:40:43,680 Speaker 9: especially for their trans sistors. 543 00:40:44,200 --> 00:40:46,360 Speaker 21: Ital bes matrimonial. 544 00:40:45,800 --> 00:40:52,919 Speaker 9: Talks and maybe they'll even get married next year. For them, 545 00:40:53,719 --> 00:40:55,160 Speaker 9: that's the American dream. 546 00:41:19,840 --> 00:41:23,359 Speaker 2: This episode was produced by jess Alvarenga and edited by 547 00:41:23,440 --> 00:41:27,360 Speaker 2: Andrea Lopez Crusado, who is mixed by Julia Caruso. The 548 00:41:27,480 --> 00:41:32,480 Speaker 2: Latino USA team includes Marta Martinez, Mike Sargent, Julieta Martinelli, 549 00:41:32,800 --> 00:41:39,200 Speaker 2: Victoria Estradra, Patricia Ulbaran, Gini montalbo Alejandra Salassard Rinaldo, Leanos Junior, 550 00:41:39,280 --> 00:41:42,800 Speaker 2: and Julia Rocha, with help from Raoul Perez. Our editorial 551 00:41:42,840 --> 00:41:46,759 Speaker 2: director is Julio Ricardo Barela. Our supervising senior engineer is 552 00:41:46,880 --> 00:41:50,560 Speaker 2: Stephanie Lebou. Additional engineering by gabriel A Bayez and j J. 553 00:41:50,719 --> 00:41:51,160 Speaker 1: Carubin. 554 00:41:51,520 --> 00:41:55,480 Speaker 2: Our digital editor is Luis Luna. Our Latino USA Fellows 555 00:41:55,760 --> 00:41:59,560 Speaker 2: are Elisa Veena and Monica Morales. Our New York Women's 556 00:41:59,600 --> 00:42:03,640 Speaker 2: Foundation Ignite fellow is Mari Esquinka. Our theme music was 557 00:42:03,680 --> 00:42:06,440 Speaker 2: composed by Sane Robinos. If you like the music, you 558 00:42:06,560 --> 00:42:09,880 Speaker 2: heard on this episode, stop by Lettinousa dot org and 559 00:42:10,000 --> 00:42:12,840 Speaker 2: check out our weekly Spotify playlist. I'm your host and 560 00:42:12,880 --> 00:42:15,759 Speaker 2: executive producer Maria jo Josa. Join us again on our 561 00:42:15,800 --> 00:42:19,080 Speaker 2: next episode, and in the meantime find us on social media. 562 00:42:19,360 --> 00:42:20,879 Speaker 2: Ei loos, BeO bye. 563 00:42:23,880 --> 00:42:28,400 Speaker 18: Latino USA is made possible in part by California Endowment, 564 00:42:28,640 --> 00:42:31,919 Speaker 18: building a strong state by improving the health of all Californians. 565 00:42:32,640 --> 00:42:37,600 Speaker 18: WK Kellogg Foundation, a partner with communities where Children Come First, 566 00:42:38,280 --> 00:42:43,040 Speaker 18: and Latino USA is supported by the chan Zuckerberg Initiative. 567 00:42:47,719 --> 00:42:51,160 Speaker 2: Yeah yeah, yeah, yeah, it's really it's really happening.