Mesa Verde Restricts Visitation During Protests, Community Members Speak Out

HALEY DUVAL / KERN SOL NEWS

After a protest outside the Mesa Verde ICE Processing Center on February 8, which led to a temporary lockdown that prevented a family visit, advocates said the practice has been in place for years.

In a previous story, protesters said a woman who traveled from San Francisco was turned away after staff told her a lockdown was tied to the protest. Advocates and longtime visitors said similar situations have occurred during past protests, even when only a small number of people were present.

Amber Tovar, Immigration Legal Services Director with the UFW Foundation, said detention facilities have the right to control who enters, including the ability to deny access.

“The facility has the right to deny entry,” Tovar said. “But it is shameful that the facility did not allow family members to visit with their loved ones, especially when many are traveling hours away.”

Jeannie Parent, with the Kern Welcoming and Extending Solidarity Immigrants organization, has visited the detention facility open in Kern County since 2015, said suspending visitation during protests is not new.

“I was there when this happened in 2015,” she said. “This has been going on for over 10 years.”

Christina Quintanilla, a college instructor and trauma-informed care practitioner, said she attended a protest months ago when several families were outside the facility and visitation was halted.

“There were families who had traveled from far away and were denied entry,” Quintanilla said. “They were in tears, missing their loved ones.”

Mesa Verde, which has operated in Bakersfield since 2015, is owned by a private company and contracts with ICE to house people in immigration custody.

However, Tovar said she has personally experienced access restrictions while attempting to meet with clients at an ICE office during a protest nearby.

“They did not want to allow me into the office because there was a protest happening close to the door,” Tovar said.

Tovar said that before the current administration, she had never been denied entry to meet with a client. 

She added that attorneys have a legal right to meet with their clients, and restricting access is a serious concern.

“If they’re doing that to attorneys who have a legal and constitutional right to meet with their clients, it’s not impossible to see how they would foreclose this benefit to people’s loved ones,” she said.

Tovar added that fear is keeping some family members from visiting. Relatives who are undocumented or have pending immigration cases may avoid the facility because they worry they could be detained

“What we have been experiencing is general fear,” she said.

Advocates said repeated lockdowns raise questions about how the facility balances security with families’ ability to visit loved ones. For those who drive hours for a visit, being turned away can be upsetting and stressful.

“It makes it difficult when families travel three hours or more to see their loved one, and then they can’t get in,” Parent said.

Mesa Verde said it is standard procedure to temporarily close visitation whenever a protest is happening outside the facility.

Haley is a reporter for Kern Sol News since December of 2023. She was born and raised in East Bakersfield and went to Foothill High School. Haley studied Journalism at Bakersfield College. When Haley is not reporting, she enjoys writing poetry, reading, traveling and spending time with friends and family. She can be reach at haley@southkernsol.org.