By Tatiana Sanchez, San Francisco Chronicle, May 13, 2020
More than 40 immigrants being held at the Otay Mesa Detention Center near San Diego are alleging that a detainee’s recent death due to COVID-19 was caused by reckless and inhumane conditions, according to a letter begging the governor and other California lawmakers to intervene.
“This is a cry for help,” said detainee Oscar Nevarez, one of 43 immigrants at Otay Mesa who supported the letter after detainee Carlos Escobar Mejia died on May 6. “Please allow us to go home on humanitarian ground and fight our cases from our homes with our families where we are safe.”
Advocates from Pueblo Sin Fronteras and Otay Mesa Detention Resistance transcribed the letter, which Nevarez read over the phone from Otay Mesa in an audio recording obtained by The Chronicle. The organizations sent the letter on Wednesday to Gov. Gavin Newsom, U.S. senators Kamala Harris and Dianne Feinstein, Attorney General Xavier Beccera and Rep. Juan Vargas, D-San Diego.
Comments (0)