For Immediate Release: October 9, 2020
Contact: Rebekah Entralgo, rentralgo@freedomforimmigrants.org (786) 897-4080 Grisel Ruiz, gruiz@ilrc.org
Dignity Not Detention Coalition Hosts Virtual Press Conference Ahead of Ninth Circuit Hearing to Uphold Preliminary Injunction Against GEO Group
What: A virtual press conference with community organizers and legal experts
Who:
Grisel Ruiz, Immigrant Legal Resource Center
Christina Fialho, Freedom for Immigrants
Alex Gonzalez, Faith in the Valley
Charles Joseph, community leader formerly detained at Mesa Verde
Kim Galindo, Inland Coalition for Immigrant Justice, MC)
When: Virtual press conference, 11:00 AM PST. Hearing, 1:00 PM PST
Where: Email Donna De La Cruz at ddelacruz@ilrc.org to RSVP and receive Zoom link
SAN FRANCISCO, CA—On Friday, October 9th, the Ninth Circuit will hold oral arguments for Immigrant Legal Resource Ctr., Freedom for Immigrants v. McFarland, Geo Group, Inc. The GEO Group appealed the case to the Ninth Circuit after a district court judge issued a preliminary injunction temporarily blocking the private prison company’s plan to expand immigration detention in Kern County.
The GEO Group also filed a stay with the Ninth Circuit, asking them to halt the district court’s preliminary injunction. In an unfortunate court decision, last month, the Ninth Circuit granted the stay. Golden State Prison was opened shortly after the decision and had 2 cases of COVID-19 after approximately a week. The facility now holds some 80 people.
The preliminary injunction was initially requested by Freedom for Immigrants and the Immigrant Legal Resource Center (ILRC) on behalf of local residents after the city of McFarland approved the private prison company GEO Group’s request to convert two 700-bed facilities in Kern County into annexes for the Mesa Verde ICE Processing Center, which currently cages up to 400 immigrants in Bakersfield daily.
The expansion is an attempt to undercut California’s SB 29, the Dignity not Detention Act of 2017, as well as an attempt to circumvent the demands of McFarland residents. In February, hundreds of farmworkers and community members organized in opposition to a private ICE prison in their town. While they ultimately won a vote at the city’s planning commission, GEO Group worked with the city of McFarland to push through the expansion anyway.
California's prison system was previously leasing both the Golden State and Central Valley facilities from GEO. Advocates are upset that Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration allowed ICE and GEO to take the facilities over ahead of schedule, paving the way for a massive expansion of detention in the state.
Two amicus briefs filed by Human Impact Partners, Dr. Parveen Parmar, Dr. William Martinez, as well as the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area, San Francisco Public Defenders’ Office, and the ACLU, highlighted the dire public health consequences of opening up these facilities during the COVID19 pandemic. At Friday’s hearing, Oral arguments will be heard by a panel of 3 judges, including Judge Andrew Kleinfeld, Judge Andrew Hurwitz, and Judge Patrick Bumatay.
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The Dignity Not Detention coalition includes California Immigrant Youth Justice Alliance, Immigrant Defense Advocates (IDA), Immigrant Defense Project (IDP), Immigrant Legal Resource Center (ILRC), Resilience Orange County, Freedom for Immigrants, Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity, Inland Coalition for Immigrant Justice, Services, Immigrant Rights & Education Network (SIREN), Pangea Legal Services, and others.