BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — On April 29, Attorney General Rob Bonta held a press conference discussing the conditions of the six immigration detention facilities in the state of California.
- Two of those being located in Kern County. The Mesa Verde location in Bakersfield and the Golden State Annex in McFarland.
- Concerns on due process, legal barriers, over use of force and solitary confinement were some main issues mentioned.
However, the report also took a special focus on mental health and lack of proper resources and treatment in each facility.
The Mesa Verde facility is just one of the six ICE detention centers operating in California. A new report from the state's Department of Justice discusses what they describe as alarming conditions inside these centers.
"Our previous findings identified inadequate mental health care services at the detention facilities and that's particularly concerning of course because those facilities are working with a population that's at high risk mental health outcomes,” said Attorney General Rob Bonta.
Attorney General Bonta is referring to the Mesa Verda detention center in Bakersfield and Golden State Annex in McFarland.
During a press conference on Tuesday, Attorney General Bonta said not only did they find little improvements, but more concerning aspects.
Regarding mental health, Mesa Verde and Golden State, both were found to have inconsistent and inadequate psychiatric evaluations, an over reliance on mediation, an improper use of restrictive housing and among other things.
"Medical and mental health records contained significant accuracies which impacted care, record keeping and maitinence and review of health care files at all six families were inefficient,” said Attorney General Bonta. “We also identified, weaknesses in suicide prevention and intervention strategies."
However, mental health wasn't the only factor the Attorney General's team looked into.
"At certain facilities, detained individuals were over disciplined including for simply making a complaint,” said Attorney General Bonta. “My team and I are highly concerned by Mesa Verde's pat down search policy."
Mesa Verde and Golden State annex are run by the GEO group, a private entity that contracts with ICE.
We reached out to the GEO Group who gave us this statement in response to the report stating in part quote,
“GEO strongly disagrees with these baseless allegations, which are part of a long-standing, politically motivated, and radical campaign to abolish ICE and end federal immigration detention by attacking the federal government's immigration facility contractors."
According to the Attorney General, he says his office will continue to evaluate the conditions and future improvements of these facilities.
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