* . *
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Privacy & Policy
  • Contact
Friday, August 29, 2025
Earth-News
  • Home
  • Business
  • Entertainment
    ‘Big Brother’s’ Rylie Jeffries Finally Speaks Out on Katherine Woodman Controversy – El Paso Inc.

    Big Brother’s Rylie Jeffries Finally Speaks Out on Katherine Woodman Controversy

    ‘SNL’ Parts Ways With Emil Wakim Amid Rumored Season 51 Cast Shakeup – yahoo.com

    SNL Shakes Up Season 51 Cast with Emil Wakim’s Surprising Exit

    Do you have a favorable or an unfavorable opinion of Taylor Swift? – YouGov

    Do You Love Taylor Swift or Not? Share Your Thoughts!

    Upload Season 4 Review – yahoo.com

    Upload Season 4 Review: A Thrilling New Chapter Unveiled

    ‘The Roses’ review: Olivia Colman, Benedict Cumberbatch sparkle in dark comedy – Yakima Herald-Republic

    The Roses’ Review: Olivia Colman and Benedict Cumberbatch Shine in Dark Comedy Delight

    ‘When Calls the Heart’ Fans All Want the Same Thing After Seeing the Show’s Latest Update – yahoo.com

    When Calls the Heart’ Fans Rally Together in Excitement Over Exciting New Update!

  • General
  • Health
  • News

    Cracking the Code: Why China’s Economic Challenges Aren’t Shaking Markets, Unlike America’s” – Bloomberg

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Trending Tags

    • Trump Inauguration
    • United Stated
    • White House
    • Market Stories
    • Election Results
  • Science
  • Sports
  • Technology
    Japan’s legacy LCD and chip technology find new home in India – Nikkei Asia

    How Japan’s Breakthrough LCD and Chip Technologies Are Driving Innovation in India

    ITSWC 2025: Thursday sessions guide – Traffic Technology Today

    Your Ultimate Guide to Thursday Sessions at ITSWC 2025

    MC Machinery Technology Summit Showcases Manufacturing Innovations – Modern Machine Shop

    MC Machinery Technology Summit Unveils Cutting-Edge Manufacturing Innovations

    US-ROK Technology Cooperation Faces Rising Tensions – The National Interest

    Rising Tensions Put US-South Korea Technology Partnership to the Test

    The Role of AI and Technology in Shaping the Future of Interactive Entertainment – Technology Org

    How AI and Technology Are Transforming the Future of Interactive Entertainment

    Ten upcoming sports stadiums where technology takes to the field – Dezeen

    10 Futuristic Sports Stadiums Revolutionizing the Game with Cutting-Edge Technology

    Trending Tags

    • Nintendo Switch
    • CES 2017
    • Playstation 4 Pro
    • Mark Zuckerberg
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Business
  • Entertainment
    ‘Big Brother’s’ Rylie Jeffries Finally Speaks Out on Katherine Woodman Controversy – El Paso Inc.

    Big Brother’s Rylie Jeffries Finally Speaks Out on Katherine Woodman Controversy

    ‘SNL’ Parts Ways With Emil Wakim Amid Rumored Season 51 Cast Shakeup – yahoo.com

    SNL Shakes Up Season 51 Cast with Emil Wakim’s Surprising Exit

    Do you have a favorable or an unfavorable opinion of Taylor Swift? – YouGov

    Do You Love Taylor Swift or Not? Share Your Thoughts!

    Upload Season 4 Review – yahoo.com

    Upload Season 4 Review: A Thrilling New Chapter Unveiled

    ‘The Roses’ review: Olivia Colman, Benedict Cumberbatch sparkle in dark comedy – Yakima Herald-Republic

    The Roses’ Review: Olivia Colman and Benedict Cumberbatch Shine in Dark Comedy Delight

    ‘When Calls the Heart’ Fans All Want the Same Thing After Seeing the Show’s Latest Update – yahoo.com

    When Calls the Heart’ Fans Rally Together in Excitement Over Exciting New Update!

  • General
  • Health
  • News

    Cracking the Code: Why China’s Economic Challenges Aren’t Shaking Markets, Unlike America’s” – Bloomberg

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Trending Tags

    • Trump Inauguration
    • United Stated
    • White House
    • Market Stories
    • Election Results
  • Science
  • Sports
  • Technology
    Japan’s legacy LCD and chip technology find new home in India – Nikkei Asia

    How Japan’s Breakthrough LCD and Chip Technologies Are Driving Innovation in India

    ITSWC 2025: Thursday sessions guide – Traffic Technology Today

    Your Ultimate Guide to Thursday Sessions at ITSWC 2025

    MC Machinery Technology Summit Showcases Manufacturing Innovations – Modern Machine Shop

    MC Machinery Technology Summit Unveils Cutting-Edge Manufacturing Innovations

    US-ROK Technology Cooperation Faces Rising Tensions – The National Interest

    Rising Tensions Put US-South Korea Technology Partnership to the Test

    The Role of AI and Technology in Shaping the Future of Interactive Entertainment – Technology Org

    How AI and Technology Are Transforming the Future of Interactive Entertainment

    Ten upcoming sports stadiums where technology takes to the field – Dezeen

    10 Futuristic Sports Stadiums Revolutionizing the Game with Cutting-Edge Technology

    Trending Tags

    • Nintendo Switch
    • CES 2017
    • Playstation 4 Pro
    • Mark Zuckerberg
No Result
View All Result
Earth-News
No Result
View All Result
Home Health

California Lawmakers Debate Sending Local Health Inspectors Into Immigration Facilities

July 31, 2024
in Health
California Lawmakers Debate Sending Local Health Inspectors Into Immigration Facilities
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Covid-19, mumps, and chickenpox outbreaks. Contaminated water, moldy food, and air ducts spewing black dust.

These health threats have been documented inside privately run immigration detention facilities in California through lawsuits, federal and state audits, and complaints lodged by detainees themselves.

But local public health officers who routinely inspect county jails and state prisons say they don’t have the authority under state law to inspect detention centers operated by private companies, including all six federal immigration centers in California.

State Sen. María Elena Durazo (D-Los Angeles) wants to close that loophole with legislation that would allow county health officers to conduct inspections at the facilities if health officers deem them necessary.

Durazo said that many detainees live in substandard conditions and that communicable diseases sweeping through these facilities could pose a risk to surrounding communities.

“Unfortunately, our detainees are treated as if they’re not human beings,” she said. “We don’t want any excuses. We want state and public health officials to go in whenever it’s needed.”

It’s not clear how much authority local health officers would have to implement changes, but public health experts say they could act as independent observers who document violations that would otherwise remain unknown to the public.

The state Senate passed the bill, SB 1132, unanimously in late May. It is now under consideration in the state Assembly.

Email Sign-Up

Subscribe to KFF Health News’ free Morning Briefing.

Immigration is regulated by the federal government. GEO Group, the country’s largest private prison contractor, runs California’s federal centers, located in four counties. Together they can house up to 6,500 people awaiting deportation or immigration hearings.

While campaigning in 2020, President Joe Biden pledged to end for-profit immigration detention. But more than 90% of the roughly 30,000 people held by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency on any given day remain in private facilities, according to a 2023 analysis by the American Civil Liberties Union. Congress members in both chambers have introduced legislation to phase out private detention centers, while other lawmakers, including at least two this month, have called for investigations into substandard medical and mental health care and deaths.

Lawmakers in Washington state passed a law in 2023 to impose state oversight of private detention facilities, but the GEO Group sued and the measure is tied up in court. California lawmakers have repeatedly attempted to regulate such facilities, with mixed results.

In 2019, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, signed a measure banning private prisons and detention facilities from operating in California. But a federal court later declared the law unconstitutional as it related to immigration detention centers, saying it interfered with federal functions.

In 2021, state lawmakers passed a bill requiring private detention centers to comply with state and local public health orders and worker safety and health regulations. That measure was adopted at the height of the covid-19 pandemic, as the virus tore through detention facilities where people were packed into dorms with little or no protection from airborne viruses.

For instance, at the Otay Mesa Detention Center in San Diego, one outbreak at the start of the pandemic infected more than 300 staff members and detainees.

The Health Officers Association of California, which represents the public health officers for the state’s 61 local health departments, supports Durazo’s legislation.

“These investigations play a pivotal role in identifying and addressing health and sanitary concerns within these facilities, thereby mitigating risks to detainees, staff, and the surrounding communities,” according to a letter from the association’s executive director, Kat DeBurgh.

Under the measure, public health officers would determine whether the facilities are complying with environmental rules, such as ensuring proper ventilation, and offering basic mental and health care, emergency treatment, and safely prepared food.

Unlike public correctional facilities, which local health officers inspect every year, private detention centers would be inspected as needed, to be determined by the health officer.

GEO Group spokesperson Christopher Ferreira and ICE spokesperson Richard Beam declined to comment on the measure.

American Public Health Association Executive Director Georges Benjamin said public health officers are well positioned to inspect these facilities because they understand how to make confined spaces safer for large populations.

Even though they likely can’t force the detention centers to comply with their recommendations, their reports could provide valuable information for public officials, attorneys, and others who want to pursue options such as litigation, he said. “When the system isn’t working, the courts can play a very profound role,” Benjamin said.

The federal system that monitors health care and the transmission of communicable diseases inside immigration detention centers is broken, said Annette Dekker, an assistant clinical professor of emergency medicine at UCLA, who studies health care in these facilities.

Inspections of detention centers are typically conducted by ICE employees and, up until 2022, by a private auditor. In a paper published in June, Dekker and other researchers showed that immigration officials and the auditor conducted inspections infrequently — at least once every three years — and provided limited public information about deficiencies and how they were addressed.

“There’s a lot of harm that is happening in detention centers that we are not able to document,” Dekker said.

ICE and the GEO Group have been the subjects of lawsuits and hundreds of complaints alleging poor conditions inside the California facilities since the pandemic began. Some of these lawsuits are pending, but a significant share of complaints have been dismissed, according to a database maintained by the American Civil Liberties Union.

The most recent lawsuits by detainees allege crowded and unsanitary conditions, denial of adequate mental and medical health care, medical neglect, and wrongful death by suicide.

The California Division of Occupational Safety and Health fined the GEO Group about $100,000 in 2022 for failing to maintain written procedures to reduce exposure to covid. The GEO Group has contested the fine.

“I have experienced really inhumane living conditions,” 28-year-old Dilmer Lovos told KFF Health News by phone from the Golden State Annex immigration detention center in McFarland, Kern County. Lovos has been held there since January while awaiting an immigration hearing.

Lovos, who was born in El Salvador and uses the pronouns they/them, has been a legal permanent resident for 15 years and was detained by immigration officials while on parole.

In early July, Lovos and 58 other detainees from Golden State Annex and the Mesa Verde ICE Processing Center in Bakersfield started a labor and hunger strike demanding the end of poor living conditions, solitary confinement, and inadequate medical and mental health services.

Lovos described a packed dorm room, clogged air filters, mice and cockroaches scurrying in the kitchen, water leaking from the ceiling, and detainees with flu-like symptoms who couldn’t get access to medication or a covid test when requested.

ICE protocols require testing of detainees with symptoms upon intake into facilities with no covid hospitalizations or deaths in the previous week. In facilities with two or more hospitalizations or deaths in the previous week, all detainees are tested during intake. It is up to each facility’s medical providers to decide when a test is necessary after that.

After Lovos filed a complaint with the GEO Group in June, alleging medical and mental health neglect, they said they were placed in solitary confinement for 20 days without a properly functioning toilet. “I was smelling my urine and feces because I was not able to flush.”

Ferreira declined to address Lovos’ allegations but said via email that detainees receive “around-the-clock access to medical care,” including doctors, dentists, psychologists, and referrals to off-site specialists.

“GEO takes exception to the unsubstantiated allegations that have been made regarding access to health care services at GEO-contracted ICE Processing Centers,” he said.

An unannounced inspection by federal immigration officials in April 2023 found Golden State Annex employees did not respond within 24 hours to medical complaints, which the report said could negatively affect detainees’ health, and did not properly store detainees’ medical records.

Lovos said that no one has addressed their concerns and that conditions have only worsened.

“Please come check these places out,” Lovos said in a plea to local health officials.

This article was produced by KFF Health News, which publishes California Healthline, an editorially independent service of the California Health Care Foundation. 

>>> Read full article>>>
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source : Kaiser Health News – https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/federal-immigration-detention-facilities-ice-local-health-inspectors-complaints-deaths/

Tags: Californiahealthlawmakers
Previous Post

Readers Weigh In on Abortion and Ways To Tackle the Opioid Crisis

Next Post

En California, legisladores presionan para que inspectores de salud locales visiten instalaciones de inmigración

What’s Behind the Political Instability in Thailand – The New York Times

Unraveling the Root Causes of Political Instability in Thailand

August 29, 2025
Drayton Harbor’s bacteria problem – Washington State Department of Ecology (.gov)

Battling the Bacteria Crisis in Drayton Harbor: Essential Facts You Can’t Miss

August 29, 2025
Entomologists, Fellow Scientists Report Negative Impacts of Government Actions – Entomology Today

Entomologists and Scientists Reveal Alarming Consequences of Recent Government Actions

August 28, 2025
Scientists Reveal What’s Inside Mars: It’s Chunky, With a History of Violence – ScienceAlert

Scientists Reveal Mars’ Chunky Interior and Turbulent History

August 28, 2025
These simple life changes can prevent diabetes and dementia – Earth.com

Easy Lifestyle Changes to Lower Your Risk of Diabetes and Dementia

August 28, 2025
Japan’s legacy LCD and chip technology find new home in India – Nikkei Asia

How Japan’s Breakthrough LCD and Chip Technologies Are Driving Innovation in India

August 28, 2025
Sports Betting Market Forecast and Company Analysis Report 2025-2033 Featuring 888, Bet365, Bet-at-Home, Betfred, Betsson, DraftKings, Entain, Flutter, International Game Technology, Kindred Group – Yahoo Finance

Sports Betting Market Outlook 2025-2033: In-Depth Analysis of Leading Industry Players

August 28, 2025
Meet The World’s Best Management Consulting Firms 2025 – Forbes

Explore the Leading Management Consulting Firms Shaping 2025

August 28, 2025
US Economy: 2Q GDP Rises to 3.3%, Jobless Claims Fall – Yahoo Finance

US Economy: 2Q GDP Rises to 3.3%, Jobless Claims Fall – Yahoo Finance

August 28, 2025
‘Big Brother’s’ Rylie Jeffries Finally Speaks Out on Katherine Woodman Controversy – El Paso Inc.

Big Brother’s Rylie Jeffries Finally Speaks Out on Katherine Woodman Controversy

August 28, 2025

Categories

Archives

August 2025
MTWTFSS
 123
45678910
11121314151617
18192021222324
25262728293031
« Jul    
Earth-News.info

The Earth News is an independent English-language daily published Website from all around the World News

Browse by Category

  • Business (20,132)
  • Ecology (795)
  • Economy (814)
  • Entertainment (21,693)
  • General (16,729)
  • Health (9,855)
  • Lifestyle (828)
  • News (22,149)
  • People (815)
  • Politics (822)
  • Science (16,024)
  • Sports (21,313)
  • Technology (15,795)
  • World (796)

Recent News

What’s Behind the Political Instability in Thailand – The New York Times

Unraveling the Root Causes of Political Instability in Thailand

August 29, 2025
Drayton Harbor’s bacteria problem – Washington State Department of Ecology (.gov)

Battling the Bacteria Crisis in Drayton Harbor: Essential Facts You Can’t Miss

August 29, 2025
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Privacy & Policy
  • Contact

© 2023 earth-news.info

No Result
View All Result

© 2023 earth-news.info

No Result
View All Result

© 2023 earth-news.info

Go to mobile version