"The Otay Mesa Detention Center is run by the private prison company CoreCivic, which states that the facility has a capacity to hold 1,358 inmates. CalMatters recently reported that there have been days when more than 1,600 people have been held there. Legislators, including Senator Alex Padilla, have been rebuffed in their efforts to gain entry to the site."
"inmates who managed to throw notes detailing their conditions of confinement, taped to shampoo bottles and pads of deodorant, to the protesters, part of a group called Otay Mesa Detention Collective, who congregate on the street outside the facility every Sunday afternoon, reported diets that don't meet basic nutritional needs, a lack of medical care, damp and cold cell blocks, minimal outdoor time, and rampant overcrowding."
"Women have reported that if they couldn't afford to buy sanitary pads, they were left to bleed on themselves during their periods. 'Every day, we were coming and they were throwing stuff over, but the guards would race us to the notes,' recalls one of the protesters, Arturo Gonzalez."
The Otay Mesa Detention Center, located fifteen miles east of San Diego, is a private immigration detention facility operated by CoreCivic with an official capacity of 1,358 inmates. However, reports indicate the facility has held over 1,600 people on certain days. Detained immigrants have communicated conditions through notes passed to protesters, revealing systemic problems including inadequate nutrition, insufficient medical care, poor cell conditions, minimal outdoor access, and severe overcrowding. Women detainees reported lacking access to basic sanitary supplies. Legislators seeking facility access have been denied entry, while CoreCivic staff attempted to prevent communication between detainees and outside advocates.
Read at The Nation
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