LWVSD Immigration & Deportation Committee Meeting Notes, 3/12/2026
Guest Speaker: Malcom Garcia, Independent Reporter, doing work at the Federal Courthouse and DHS office in San Diego. He also maintains contacts at the Otay Mesa Detention Center, working on a letter-writing project. Email: mucker05@yahoo.com
Malcom stated that he has been following the court volunteers at the Federal Building in downtown San Diego since November. He noted that ICE has an office on the 2nd floor where they interview immigrants and the courtrooms are on the 4th floor. Before Trump, immigrants would get a call or letter to come to the Federal Building for a “palm scan” and interview. In the past this would generally be quick; some returning repeatedly and some for decades without problems. Now many of these immigrants arrive and are typically there for hours and hours waiting to be seen, maybe arriving at 8AM and leaving at 1PM or later. Some of those coming to the 2nd floor interviews had had their cases closed/resolved, but now cases are being reopened by the Trump administration and the individuals detained. Malcom met a woman from India who came to the USA when she was 5 years old and now she is 65 years old. She had one drunk driving citation on her record from many years past, paid her fines etc. and now the administration wants to deport her.
The 4th floor Court hearings, also called “master hearings” are cases where their status is being challenged. He sees this as harassment; the immigrants spend thousands of dollars on lawyers to defend their cases.
The situation for court volunteers has changed quite a bit as of late February. Currently ICE will not allow the volunteers to be in the clients’ waiting room or in the hallways. The 2nd floor is now a “no go” zone and ICE wants to prevent the volunteers from entering the courtroom as well. The volunteers are being “cited for loitering” since February 27th and penalized with a $280 fine. Malcom stated that they are not loitering and that ICE actions are not in compliance with CA law. Volunteers are still in court, though that effort entails difficulties. Volunteers are still outside and try to talk to immigrants outside the building, to show support. Malcom described a big billboard outside the Federal Building that says “NO Loitering”, but that’s a lie!
He learned that starting in September and October immigrants were often told by judges, “I’ll continue your case” but once outside the courtroom ICE would take them off to detention. A lot of spouses of American citizens are being detained. He stated that ACLU is filing cases against this practice. Malcom lamented that Steven Miller is pressing hard to achieve his deportation quotas and detention centers like Core Civic are making huge amounts of money on these practices.
Discussion:
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Are volunteers seeking to do “class action lawsuits” on these citations, on the basis of civil rights? Malcom stated that there was a meeting yesterday on further action, but as of yet it is not settled how this might be fought as a group. Most of those cited want the push-back to be taken to the courtroom. It remains under discussion. A member noted that on Tuesday she heard that FAITH and ACLU will try to do a collective action on citations. There are also efforts to find donated funds to help some volunteers pay their fines.
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Who do you work with? Malcom responded “I follow FAITH ( Our Lady of Guadaloupe) and Detention Resistance.”
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Can our city government do anything about this? Our local police will not interfere with a Federal issue. “The Mayor of San Diego has given verbal support; some believe he has been delinquent in not taking a strong stand”, replied Malcolm.
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What about the basement detentions? Malcom remarked that there are a number of underlying horrors: long waits, big parking fees, lawyers fees, etc. He remarked that the law says that one cannot be held in the basement more than 12 hours. He talked of strategies ICE uses such as taking detainees in shackles off in buses to Otay Mesa, keeping detainees in the buses for hours, sometimes returning busloads to the basement to wait more hours, just shuffling folks around to avoid the 12 hours law. It was noted by a member that some people are released on “habeas corpus” and they can be picked up by ICE and re-detained, some get ankle monitors and sometimes ICE will drop a weak case.
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Members asked questions about the judges, nasty or reasonable? Malcom noted that a lot of judges nationwide have quit or been fired. He sees that most seem fair and that lawyers seem to try to “ride out” undecided cases under this administration, keep cases pending. Committee members who volunteer there stated that they see “due process” going on in the courtroom and most judges seem fair.
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A member noted that as they do not allow volunteers on the 2nd floor, it’s hard to know what happens when they disappear. Parking meters run out, dogs left at home unattended, worried family members who may not know where their loved one has gone, and some volunteers find ways to help with these issues.
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Malcom commented that Otay Mesa is a rough place to be, boredom, depression, no programs or classes, small yard, etc. He had discussed with Beryl if members might want to write letters to detainees; he is working to set that up. It means a lot to them to hear that others care. “they are not forgotten.” He had guidelines such as: do not criticize ICE, do not get political; cards are OK but not postcards; write on white paper only, not yellow paper; envelope must have a return address (a street address), but not necessarily your name, and don’t send stamps because they cannot write back. He stated that he was able to get some names of detainees from lawyers who got client permission. An immigrant with an ankle monitor was worried about his parked car and the lawyer got permission and within an hour help was set up for the car problem. Malcom stated that it is not easy to visit detainees at Otay Mesa but video chats are appreciated. He noted that a real visit to Otay would lead to a invasive “strip search” of the detainee after the visit, very unpleasant. A committee member noted that some might feel the post visit/strip search is worth the visit, especially from clergy.
Beryl thanked Malcom for speaking at our committee meeting today with lots of fascinating insights and for his own efforts on behalf of immigrants in our community.
Beryl wrapped up the meeting with some announcements. There will be a No Kings March on March 28th 10-12noon at the SD County Administration Building at Waterfront Park. She also informed the committee that at the LWVSD’s Program Planning meeting, they voted to “concur with the Washington State group’s new position on immigrant rights”. LWVWA will ask for concurrence on this position at the LWVUS convention in June.
Meeting Notes from February 2026: approved as emailed.
Next Meeting: Thursday April 9th 2026, 9AM on Zoom. The invited speaker will be Gustavo Solis, reporter for KPBS.
(Beryl’s answers to some questions. Malcolm is an independent reporter, but he had an editorial in the San Diego Union Tribune on Sunday, 3/15/2026. FAITH is under the auspices of Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church. They just did a presentation to our committee - go back and read the notes. They probably don’t have a budget for citations. The companies that run detention centers in the U.S. get a payment per bed from the government. They make more money if they take shortcuts which is why you are hearing about bad food, poor medical care and no programs. DHS has very little oversight. Yes, they contribute to Trump and are in his favor. Bring your questions including the one from Judy M. about habeus corpus to our next meeting - Gustavo Solis is very knowledgeable. If you go to the Immigration and Deportation committee page on the LWVSD website (lwvsandiego.org), you can find suggestions on how to help.)
Letters to people in Otay Mesa Detention Center can be sent to the following 2 people:
Xuerui Zhao 226168976, Otay Mesa Detention Center, P.O. Box 439049, San Diego, CA 92143-9049
Egor Skapenko 246909756, Otay Mesa Detention Center P.O. Box 439049, San Diego, CA 92143-9049