Becerra to review jail mistreatment claims

California Attorney General Xavier Becerra said his office will review disturbing allegations of mistreatment by immigrant detainees at Richmond’s West County jail.

The review will encompass conditions inside immigrant detention centers across the state and specifically examine the “troubling” claims by immigrants at the East Bay detention facility, Becerra said.

Becerra acknowledged the probe in a letter Friday to Rep. Mark DeSaulnier, D-Concord, who had asked for investigations into the jail by both state and federal authorities, after The Chronicle reported that female immigrant detainees said they were being denied access to bathrooms, sufficient health care and the educational material given to inmates who are U.S. citizens.

Women told The Chronicle they were forced to urinate and defecate in their clothes or plastic bags in their cells. Some said the jail’s medical staff were not properly treating their alarming health problems. One woman begged to be deported rather than stay in the facility.

After the story was published, the detainees said conditions worsened for those who had spoken out. The women said guards withheld soap and shampoo and did not allow them to brush their teeth after meals.

Contra Costa County sheriff ’s officials, who operate the jail, strongly disputed allegations of mistreatment. In a statement Monday, Sheriff David Livingston said such complaints as excessive “lockdown” time or “improper use of biohazard

bags” are extremely rare among the jail’s 1,600 inmates and detainees.

“The fact that some ICE detainees have made such allegations demands a full and thorough investigation, which is well under way,” Livingston said. “We routinely pass stringent state and federal jail inspections and are committed to running safe, secure and constitutionally compliant detention facilities.”

The county has a $6 million annual contract with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to run the federal detention center at the Richmond jail, which houses male and female ICE detainees.

Internal affairs investigators with the sheriff ’s office have conducted more than 100 interviews with inmates and staff, reviewed surveillance video and inspected evidence and jail quarters, said Jimmy Lee, a spokesman for the department.

The sheriff ’s office has been in close communication and cooperating with Becerra’s staff, who toured the facilities Nov. 16 and will again soon, Lee said. The sheriff ’s office has asked Becerra’s staff to review the department’s internal investigation once it’s finalized next week.

The California Department of Justice is required to submit a comprehensive report of its findings to the state lawmakers by March 2019, Becerra said in the letter.

“You have my assurance that DOJ is committed to a vigorous and independent exercise of the oversight responsibility the Legislature entrusted to DOJ,” Becerra wrote to DeSaulnier.

Becerra said his office wouldn’t comment on its work until the review is complete.