West County Detention Facility in Richmond, California, has a $6 million per-year contract with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to detain immigrants, and for seven figures annually jail officials allegedly force immigrants to defecate in plastic bags because the cells they’re locked in for 23 hours a day don’t have toilets. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, some immigrant detainees barred from using the communal toilets are forced to go in their own clothing:
I first learned about the allegations by the women in a phone call from one detainee, Dianny Patricia Menendez, a native of Honduras who had been jailed at the detention facility since May. She begged an immigration judge in October to be deported rather than endure the jail conditions, and weeks later she was deported.
Menendez told me about detainees being forced to urinate and defecate in red biodegradable bags that jail staff give them—because they’re locked into their toilet-less cells for hours on end. When I toured the jail on the day she was deported last month, I met more female inmates who shared similar stories.
But officials with the Contra Costa County Sheriff's Office, which operates the jail, have repeatedly denied that inmates are locked up for such long periods with no access to the bathrooms. They’ve begun an internal investigation.
Congressman Mark DeSaulnier, who toured the facility following initial reporting from the Chronicle, said that Contra Costa County Sheriff David Livingston believes the allegations are isolated incidents, but a letter from more than two dozen inmates to Community Initiatives for Visiting Immigrants in Confinement (CIVIC) claimed otherwise. “We have documentation and testimonies from many of the people there demonstrating that this isn’t an isolated incident—that it is a systemic issue, that everyone there is experiencing and suffering,” said CIVIC’s Rebecca Merton.
The Chronicle visited the jail and in a second profile earlier this month described the inhumane conditions that eventually led to Congressman’s DeSaulnier’s visit:
Each cluster of cells has a restroom nearby in a secured area that inmates can access by opening their cell door. Here’s where the truth gets murky: The women I met said their doors are often locked and they cannot get out. Their jailers say the women are rarely locked in and have access to the bathroom most of the time.
But after hearing about the allegations this week, Contra Costa County sheriff’s officials, who contract with ICE to hold immigration detainees, said they will investigate.
The women I met spoke of having to relieve themselves in red biodegradable plastic bags, the kind given to vomiting inmates going through drug withdrawal.
Karina Paez, who’s from Tijuana, told me her roommate defecated in clothing soon after they arrived about a month ago.
“Later on, somebody told us that we were supposed to scream ‘red bag’ out the window,” Paez said, referring to the biodegradable bags. “I didn’t know that. I just arrived here, and she was new, too.”
One outcome here, intentional or not, is that more than one immigrant at the facility has become so miserable, she’d rather just agree to be deported rather than endure one more day in detainment:
Paez, 36, was arrested two years ago in Missouri for possession of heroin with intent to distribute. She said she’s ready to leave the U.S. for good, even if it means her life will be in danger because she testified against drug traffickers.
“I can’t do this,” she said, choking back tears. “I really can’t be in my room 23 hours a day. I’m going crazy.”
In the phone interview, Menendez told me that jail staffers frequently cancel the hour of daily “free time,” when inmates can bathe, call family and friends, and clean their cells. There were times, she said, when she had to wait days to shower.
Other inmates also allege inadequate access to health care:
[Ana Henriquez] Nuila, 32, spoke in Spanish and her words were interpreted by fellow detainee Nancy Meyer, 40. Nuila said she fell off the top bunk in her cell several days ago. Her arm was in a sling. She said she’s asked to get an X-ray, but the medical staff has offered only a topical cream and aspirin — and a spot on a waiting list.
Another detainee, 29-year-old Adriana Diaz, pulled up her shirt to reveal a fist-sized lump near her waistline. It’s growing, and she doesn’t know what it is. She said the jail medical staff hasn’t given her attention.
County sheriff’s officials have denied the claims, saying that “detainees, either because they’re confused, or they have a grievance against us and want to say things that may be inaccurate or untrue—that happens.” So basically, they’re liars, according to the department. But the burden should be on ICE and jail officials, because it’s ICE that has consistently been shown to abuse, mistreat, and ignore the needs of detainees, in sometimes deadly ways:
Ten undocumented immigrants have died while in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody this fiscal year, including three immigrants who died in a private detention facility in the span of only three months. In one New Jersey jail where an undocumented man essentially bled to death this past spring, 121 people filed medical grievances over a two-year period and “the jail took corrective action in fewer than 3 percent of those cases.”
Advocates are now pushing for an investigation:
Merton praised DeSaulnier’s interest in the conditions inside the facility.
“He recognizes that it’s not going to be enough to just identify problems and promise to fix them,” she said. “We need to ensure that steps are actually taken to end the isolation and suffering of people inside the facility.”