Opinion: How to help Trump's immigration detainees escape from Otay Mesa, one letter at a time (via latimesopinion)
There’s Thomas, from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, who’s been in custody at Otay Mesa Detention Center in San Diego for two years and eight months, after his escape from an oppressive regime that has detained hundreds of pro-democracy and human rights activists. There’s Andres, who fled gangs in El Salvador, holding on to his evangelical faith to ease the pain of separation from his family and his inability to inform them as to how or where he is.
One detainee, Horacio, explains in a letter that his favorite music group is the Bee Gees and that he loves Clint Eastwood, a “very good actor for Western movies.” He knows American movies because his parents brought him to the U.S. when he was 16 years old. He took English classes and harvested broccoli, strawberries, cauliflower and artichokes in the Salinas Valley. He says he is terrified of being sent to Mexico, “where massive killings are happening.
In August , representatives from Detainee Allies joined a delegation from the California Legislative Jewish Caucus that was granted rare access into Otay Mesa. I read their report. What the detainees told them was gut-wrenching and well-known by now — Customs and Border Protection kept them in freezing holding cells , sometimes with lights on 24/7 and nothing but a Mylar wrap and a ¼” pad cushioning them from the cold concrete.
At Otay Mesa, refugees and asylum seekers have extremely limited access to legal help, family and the outside world in general; theyracist guards, medical neglect and solitary confinement as a punishment. CoreCivic, the nation’s largest owner of partnership detention facilities, denies it all. Out of 1,412 inmates in federal detention at Otay Mesa in August, 978 were ICE detainees, from 73 different countries, according to Detainee Allies. They were paid about $1/day to join a “
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