A migrant at a detention center on the U.S.-Mexico border says a prison guard took him into a room without cameras, told him to undress himself, and then sexually assaulted him.
That’s according to a complaint lodged by a coalition of migrant advocacy groups in a letter seen by Newsweek that was sent to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials and staff at prison-operating company CoreCivic.
The letter is signed by representatives from five migrant rights and legal aid organizations: Al Otro Lado, American Friends Service Committee, Detention Resistance, Freedom for Immigrants, and SOLACE.
The groups’ claim is the latest in a string of allegations of abuse and neglect at the CoreCivic-run Otay Mesa Detention Center in California, with one whistleblower alleging migrants were dying as a result.
Ryan Gustin, Director of Public Affairs at CoreCivic, told Newsweek: “We aggressively investigate all sexual abuse allegations, regardless of the source, and support prosecution for those who are involved in incidents of sexual abuse. Any detainees making such allegations are offered appropriate medical and mental health services, emotional support services, and answers to any questions they have about the investigative process.”
“If a detainee is found to be at substantial risk of imminent sexual abuse, immediate action is taken to protect the individual. Any potentially criminal allegation of sexual abuse is immediately referred to law enforcement and shared with our government partner.”
Gustin later told Newsweek that the employee in question was no longer employed by CoreCivic, having resigned from the company.
According to the letter, on August 17, 2023, after the inmate returned to the detention facility from court, a CoreCivic employee asked him to undress himself entirely for a strip search. After the strip search, the employee asked if he could “help” inmate A “get dressed.”
The employee then allegedly said, “If you don’t say anything, I won’t say anything,” and proceeded to engage in oral sex, according to the document.
Priscilla Merida, Managing Attorney at Al Otro Lado, told Newsweek that detention centers are “gaslighting” her client who is dealing with ” trauma” after the ordeal.
Merida said there is a “concerning lack of accountability that results in empowering authorities to continue perpetrating gross violations and abuses against vulnerable migrants in custody.”
Merida said: “My client was sexually assaulted by a guard at Otay Mesa Detention Center. A guard placed him in a room that didn’t have cameras and sexually assaulted him. The guard instructed him to be silent, but my client reported the guard and filed a police report.
“I met my client after the sexual assault, and when I spoke to him, he told me that he felt no one had believed him until he spoke to me.
“It is frustrating that the detention center often gaslights victims and is dismissive when individuals come forth to speak against the abuses they suffer. This systemic pattern of refusing to believe individuals and protecting the abusers leads to individuals being hesitant to report abuses committed against them.”
The accuser said he “does not feel safe” and has suffered from suicidal thoughts and panic attacks after the assault, according to the letter sent to DHS and CoreCivic.
The letter said the inmate attempted to seek support at the facility. However, an Otay Mesa mental health professional said that he could not provide therapy and stated, “If you don’t like how we are treating you here, then you can go back to your home country.”
He was also told to “work on his breathing to relax” by a medical official.
The accuser informed officials of the incident and requested copies to file a complaint, the letter says. However, he was told that while it was clear that someone had entered the room with him, they “couldn’t know what happened in the room.”
He was also told it would take four months to get results from a saliva sample.
Merida, the Al Otro Lado attorney, said she had not been told about the status of the investigation. The inmate was released on parole earlier this year by authorities.
“I am disheartened that apart from having to heal from trauma due to persecution suffered in his home country, he now has to cope with the trauma inflicted on him in the United States by his custodians,” Merida told Newsweek.
The letter shared with Newsweek details another incident on September 27, 2023, when a migrant in his sixties went through a metal detector with a cane that contained metal materials. A CoreCivic employee groped the detainee in front of another inmate in ICE detention, the letter said.
“This dismissive and unprofessional response is very much in accordance with previous reports of serious mistreatment and gaslighting of people detained at Otay Mesa by mental health professionals,” the document said.
Merida revealed she submitted a FOIA request to ask for the investigation records for the second accuser. However, the request was denied over an “ongoing investigation,” she said.
There have been other reports of mistreatment of migrants at the Otay Mesa detention center. Two individuals held there told a reporter for the Voice of San Diego that they had attempted to report sexual assaults while in custody and were retaliated against for reporting the incidents in 2019.
CoreCivic disclosed in 2019 there were 19 reported incidents of “employee-on-inmate/detainee” sexual abuse under the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA). This was the most reported out of any CoreCivic facility in the country.
EDITOR’S NOTE: This story includes discussion of sexual violence. If you or someone you know needs help, please call 1-800-656-4673 in the U.S.
If you or someone you know is considering suicide, please contact the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by dialing 988, text “988” to the Crisis Text Line at 741741 or go to 988lifeline.org.
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