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A woman who has spent 22 years behind bars and is set to be released in March is suing the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE), saying it illegally uses third-party contractors to arrest immigrants who have just been released from custody, and fears it will do the same to her.
Gabriela Solano, 48, filed the class action complaint in the Northern District of California Monday, and also names ICE leaders of the San Francisco and Los Angeles field offices as defendants.
The California woman was brought to the United States as a two-year-old from Mexico, and was made a lawful permanent resident when she was eight, the lawsuit states.
When she was 26, domestic violence survivor Solano served as a driver for an abusive ex-partner when passengers in the car she was driving shot and killed a pedestrian in a botched robbery.
She has so far served 22 years in state for a murder charge, and has recently been found suitable for release from the California Women’s Facility in Chowchilla, with a March 15 tentative release date.
Solano earned two degrees while in prison, took over 1,000 hours of rehabilitative classes, worked as an office clerk for 12 years and said she is looking forward to reuniting with her mom and little sister, and starting a career in civic translation.
However, ICE has notified Solano through an “ICE detainer request” that it intends to detain her for removal proceedings on her release from state custody. The lawsuit states that since at least 2016, ICE has routinely used G4S contractors to arrest people at California jails and prisons for immigration enforcement purposes without any ICE immigration officer present, and Solano believes the same practice will happen to her.
“[ICE’s private contractor policy] is an ongoing violation of federal law, and results in numerous illegal arrests that wrongfully deprive individuals of their liberty,” the lawsuit stated. “Defendants continue to retain and direct private contractors to arrest individuals despite longstanding public criticisms, complaints, and lawsuits regarding the contractors’ lack of training and neglect of people in their care.”
The lawsuit is asking a judge to rule that ICE policies allowing G4S to arrest immigrants for deportation violates the Immigration and Nationality Act and implementing regulations.
Solano is also seeking a permanent injunction prohibiting ICE from enforcing the policies for a proposed Class of all people who are currently, or will be in the future, in custody under the areas of responsibility of the ICE San Francisco Field Office and Los Angeles Field Office and who are the subject of an ICE detainer request.
G4S is one of the world’s largest private security companies, and has a patchy public record of misconduct allegations.
While no amount of training would make it legal for G4S contractors to make the arrests, the class action alleged, the company has a record of “serious misconduct which jeopardizes the safety of detained individuals.”
“In California, G4S regularly subjects detained immigrants to burdensome and lengthy voyages, fully shackled with limited access to food, water, and toilets. In 2019, four women almost died while being driven by G4S pursuant to the Contract,” the lawsuit stated.
It also pointed to a 2019 USA Today investigation that said it substantiated more than 1,500 allegations against staff members at G4S-run juvenile detention centers between 2007 and 2017, including abuse, neglect and sexual violence.
The lawsuit follows the introduction last week of the VISION Act, California Assembly Bill 937, by state Assembly member Wendy Carrillo, Courthouse News reports. If passed, the act would ensure immigrants eligible for release from state prison or local jail are not turned over to ICE.
This is not the first time ICE has been named in a class action lawsuit. On Feb. 2, detained migrants in Florida filed a class action lawsuit in Florida alleging ICE hasn’t done anything to protect them from being infected with COVID-19, and isn’t isn’t considering vaccination protocols.
Last year more than a dozen women filed a class action lawsuit seeking a restraining order to halt what they say amounts to medical abuse happening at a federal immigrant detention center in Georgia.
Have you or someone you know been detained by ICE? Share your experience with us in the comments below.
Counsel for the plaintiffs are Vasudha Talla, William S. Freeman of the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation Of Northern California.
The ICE G4S Contractor Class Action Lawsuit is Solano, et al. v. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, et al., Case No. 2:21-cv-01576, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.
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