By Greg Moran
The San Diego Union-Tribune
SAN DIEGO — A lawsuit over conditions at an Otay Mesa immigration jail can continue, a federal judge ruled yesterday in rejecting a government plea to dismiss the case.
U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw’s ruling means the case filed on behalf of several immigration detainees, alleging that their constitutional rights were violated because of severe overcrowding at the facility, will move forward.
The suit, filed by the American Civil Liberties Union, alleges that conditions were dangerously overcrowded because three detainees were often housed in cells designed for two people.
The facility is operated by the private Corrections Corporation of America under a contract with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.
Since the case was filed, two of the detainees named in the lawsuit have been deported and another has been transferred to a facility in El Centro. The government argued that the case should be dismissed because the three no longer are in the facility and don’t have a valid claim.
In court papers, ICE lawyers argued that the case was moot for the remaining two plaintiffs because detainees are no longer housed three to a cell, and daily jail populations have been well below capacity.
Steps to lower the jail population were taken just days after the the ACLU filed its suit. The facility houses asylum seekers and people charged with immigration violations who are awaiting resolution of their cases.
Sabraw agreed that the claims of the two deported detainees are no longer valid but said the detainee now in El Centro still has an interest in the case because he remains in ICE custody and could be sent back to Otay Mesa.
The government has not made strong enough assurances that it would never allow overcrowding in the future at Otay Mesa, Sabraw said. Moreover, ICE has not acknowledged that overcrowding was a problem or that it violated the detainees’ constitutional rights. Under the law, both of those conditions would have to be met for the case to be dismissed, the judge ruled.
The ACLU is seeking to turn the case into a class action lawsuit on behalf of all detainees. Hearings on that issue are scheduled for later in the summer.
Copyright 2007 The San Diego Union-Tribune