Both a U.S. district judge and the Cal/OSHA board made two separate rulings attempting to hold GEO group accountable for the horrible negligence and abuse in its ICE prisons located in CA.

In June 2022 Cal/OSHA filed a complaint on behalf of immigrants imprisoned in a Kern County ICE prison alleging unsafe working conditions during the coronavirus pandemic. GEO has been ordered to pay a six figure penalty and provide immigrants in their facilities in CA the necessary tools and personal protective equipment (PPE) to safely perform jobs. “This is a clear victory for the rights of all workers, and especially for people working while locked up in ICE detention,” said Mariel Villarreal, senior Attorney for the California Collaborative for Immigrant Justice. And this ruling would not have been possible without the worker-led organizing inside this Kern County detention center.

In a different ruling, a U.S. district court judge issued a preliminary injunction to DHS to provide access to clean water, nutritious meals, humane and speedy medical care and sanitary conditions to the prisoners at the Adelanto ICE facility and its desert view annex this past Thursday. ICE must also provide access to free hygiene products, privacy when using restrooms and showers, and clean the facilities daily.

“They will suffer irreparable harm if the court does not issue preliminary injunctive relief,” Judge Sunshine S. Sykes wrote in an eight page injunction that included a demand to GEO Group that its employees may not retaliate in any way against prisoners who speak up about their constitutional rights being violated. “This ruling sends a clear message: no detention facility in this country is above the law,” Rebecca Brown, an attorney involved with the case said. “The court has recognized what we have known all along, that the conditions inside Adelanto are inhumane.”

(Taken from an email sent to me by Never Again Action.)