On June 13, 2007, private attorneys and attorneys for the ACLU's National Prison Project, the ACLU Immigrants' Rights Project, and the ACLU of San Diego & Imperial Counties filed a class action lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California, challenging allegedly inadequate medical care provided to immigrant detainees at the San Diego Correctional Facility (SDCF). The Facility was a contract detention facility in Otay Mesa, California, operated by the Corrections Corporation of America. Civil immigration detainees in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, were housed there pursuant to a contractual agreement between CCA and the federal government. On average, the facility housed 600-800 male and female immigration detainees for periods of time ranging from several weeks to several years.

Plaintiffs alleged that detainees were denied constitutionally adequate medical and mental health care, dental, and vision care. Plaintiffs further alleged that in some instances denial of treatment put pressure on immigrants to waive their hearing rights and thereby expedite their deportation, in hopes of receiving treatment. Plaintiffs sought declaratory and injunctive relief, as well as class certification. ICE responded by moving to dismiss the case. In October 2007, the court (Judge Sabraw) denied dismissal as to the majority of Plaintiffs, although a few were released from the litigation on technical grounds.

After Judge Sabraw denied class certification in December 2007, plaintiffs were granted permission to appeal by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. Prior to argument in the Court of Appeals, they settled the case in mediation, in late 2010. Under the settlement, SDCF was required to comply with a number of National Council on Correctional Health Care standards, hire additional staffing to expedite care, take steps to expedite care when requested, new standards for balancing security and healthcare needs, and regular reporting requirements. SDCF had one year from the date of approval of the settlement to comply with NCCHC standards and receive certification from that organization of such, before the order could be terminated. The order applied only to SDCF, not to conditions in any other facility. A settlement class was certified and the settlement was approved by the District Court in June of 2011. The case was closed in July of 2012, indicating compliance with the court order without incident.

Dan Dalton - 09/24/2007
Carlos Torres - 06/24/2013


compress summary