Supervisor Fielder visits S.F. immigration court, concerned over conditions

"District 9 Supervisor Jackie Fielder walked out of the elevator on the sixth floor at 630 Sansome St. on Thursday morning and through the security checkpoint to become the first city supervisor to visit the ICE detention facility since the Trump administration began its immigration crackdown this year. The inside of the ICE headquarters, where immigrants are taken for processing after being arrested outside of the courtrooms below, was nearly empty with the only visible ICE official sitting behind the front desk."

"ICE began routinely detaining asylum-seekers on the sixth floor in June and Fielder has long advocated for the immigrants. On Thursday, she was joined by Jennifer Friedman, a San Francisco deputy public defender, Milli Atkinson, director of the Bar Association of San Francisco's immigration team, and three journalists (including Mission Local). All visited one of the waiting rooms, a small, grey and barren space, with a low-hanging ceiling."

District 9 Supervisor Jackie Fielder visited the ICE detention facility at 630 Sansome St., becoming the first city supervisor to enter the sixth-floor area since the immigration crackdown began. The sixth floor serves as ICE headquarters where immigrants are processed after arrests; the facility appeared nearly empty during the visit with only one visible ICE official. ICE began routinely detaining asylum-seekers there in June. The waiting rooms are small, grey and barren, split by a glass divider, with bolted metal stools and some nonworking telephones. The ACLU and other groups allege detainees were held up to six days without adequate hygiene, medical care or sleeping facilities and were charged for poor-quality phone calls. Fielder said she is concerned about conditions and pledged to advocate for more funding.

Read at Mission Local