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Civil Rights Complaint: GEO Group Staff in Golden State Annex ICE Facility Sexually Abuse People With Impunity
‘The person who was supposed to help me also wanted me sexually.’
MCFARLAND, Calif. – A year after a nationwide investigation into sexual abuse in ICE facilities and mounting Congressional outrage at human rights violations in private detention centers run by GEO Group and CoreCivic, immigrants detained at the Golden State Annex ICE facility have filed a federal civil rights complaint today detailing GEO Group staff’s sexual abuse and harassment, and discrimination based on people’s gender and sexual orientation. The complaint to the Department of Homeland Security’s Office for Civil Rights and Liberties was filed by the Asian Law Caucus on behalf of survivors of unchecked and systematic abuse.
The complaint recounts how many survivors endured sexual abuse, harassment, and discrimination as a form of retaliation for speaking out against medical neglect, unsafe conditions, and $1-a-day pay in Golden State Annex. Echoing protests in 2022 and 2023, people detained in Golden State Annex and nearby Mesa Verde ICE Processing Center have launched ongoing labor and hunger strikes this summer to call for the termination of the facilities’ $1.5 billion contracts.
“GEO Group staff used who I am to punish me for speaking out for people’s safety and health,” said Loba Lovos Mendez, a transfeminine person who has been detained at Golden State Annex for eight months. “I’ve been subjected to sexually abusive pat down searches, denied hygiene products, forced to wear men’s clothing, and live with repeated misgendering and mistreatment by staff. After filing complaints against this abuse, I was forced into solitary confinement. I’m not alone in these horrendous experiences. There are survivors throughout this facility, and like most people, we want to be with our families. That’s why we’re risking our well-being and going on strike to help people see what really happens behind GEO Group’s talking points and shareholder reports.”
Earlier this month, immigrants detained at Golden State Annex also filed a federal civil rights complaint after GEO Group guards responded to peaceful protests with a violent raid, pepper spray and solitary confinement.
Federal Complaint Calls for Immediate Action to End Abuse, Hold GEO Group Accountable
The federal civil rights complaint details shocking abuses of power against several community members, in addition to what Mx. Lovos Mendez has endured. People detained at Golden State Annex were coerced or pressured to engage in a sexual acts, ridiculed for their sexual orientation, and repeatedly subjected to sexually intrusive patdowns. In one instance, a high ranking GEO Group staff member demanded sexual favors in exchange for approving a placement request and asked people detained, “do you want to suck my dick?” In another instance, a hunger striker, Mr. F, suffered multiple incidents of sexual harassment and GEO Group and ICE took no action to follow up on his calls seeking help. At one point, Mr. F learned that the officer who had been harassing him got angry with another staff member who confirmed the abuse, saying something like “you’re supposed to look out for me.”
Amid this pervasive culture of secrecy and unchecked abuse, the complaint calls on the Office of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties to investigate every reported incident and make recommendations for corrective actions as well as provide U visa certifications to the survivors. The complaint also calls on the office to recommend that:
- ICE immediately end its contract with GEO Group at Golden State Annex, based on the facility’s lengthy record of harassment, abuse, and impunity;
- ICE immediately release all of the survivors in this complaint; and
- Any ICE detention facilities provide access to LGBT programming.
“No matter who we are or what we look like, all of us deserve to be safe and make a better life for our families. Our clients and their loved ones want to put down roots in the communities and places they call home. Yet, in the face of rampant abuse, neglect, and callous violations of their human rights, people detained at Golden State Annex and Mesa Verde have been forced to launch hunger strikes for basic fairness and justice,” said Lee Ann Felder-Heim, an immigrant rights attorney at the Asian Law Caucus. “GEO Group is one of the world’s largest private prison corporations and has every incentive to provide as little care as possible to increase their own bottom line. We reiterate the strikers' demand: it’s time to terminate GEO Group’s contracts for these facilities and end an incessant record of brutality and abuse.”