Detention Resistance, also known as Otay Mesa Detention Resistance, is an organization focused on closing the Otay Mesa Detention Center in San Diego County near the California-Mexico border. The organization has several committees that communicate with detainees inside the detention center, assist with post-release logistics, and plan community events. ¹

Background

Detention Resistance is a non-hierarchical organization focused on closing the Otay Mesa Detention Center (OMDC). ² The organization asserts that capitalism has propagated the displacement and exploitation of populations across the globe and has created a system of racial oppression that fuels the prison industrial complex. ³

Initiatives

Detention Resistance has several committees that run several programs. The “detainee direct support” committee not only communicates with detainees inside OMDC through letters and phone calls, but also facilitates post-release support. ⁴ Post-release support includes coordinating transportation, accompanying recently released detainees to transportation terminals, and providing temporary housing and care packages for detainees released from detention. ⁵ The organization  has an outreach and communication committee that researches local, state, and federal policies and also plans community events. ⁶

The organization runs a “letters in resistance” program where volunteers write letters to detainees inside the OMDC. ⁷ The program is advertised with a “abolish-ICE” hashtag. ⁸ The organization also provides online resources in the form of “e-comments” which are pre-drafted statements that advocates can insert into online comment boxes or agenda suggestion boxes of city meetings, as well as sample speaking points for use at community meetings and hearings. ⁹

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Detention Resistance partnered with the left-of-center American Friends Service Committee’s U.S.-Mexico Border Program and Pueblo Sin Fronteras, an advocacy organization for illegal immigrants, to release a study outlining the health conditions of the OMDC that led to at least one fatality during the pandemic. ¹⁰ The organization also partnered with then-state Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher (D-San Diego) to try and deliver masks to the detainees at the facility. ¹¹

In 2022, Detention Resistance also supported a detainee’s hunger strike in response to alleged denial of medical treatment at OMDC. Detention Resistance supported Hever Alberto Mendoza Linares’ hunger strike by organizing a call-in campaign. ¹² Detention Resistance also joined organizations such as the left-of-center American Friends Service Committee, Freedom for Immigrants, and Party for Socialism and Liberation to file a complaint about the medical care available to detainees at OMDC. ¹³

1. Detention Resistance. Archived from the original January 19, 2024. Accessed May 12, 2024. https://web.archive.org/web/20240119042259/https://www.detentionresistance.org/
2. Detention Resistance. Archived from the original January 19, 2024. Accessed May 12, 2024. https://web.archive.org/web/20240119042259/https://www.detentionresistance.org/
3. “About.” Detention Resistance. Archived from the original March 28, 2024. Accessed May 12, 2024. https://web.archive.org/web/20240328075623/https://www.detentionresistance.org/about
4. Detention Resistance. Archived from the original January 19, 2024. Accessed May 12, 2024. https://web.archive.org/web/20240119042259/https://www.detentionresistance.org/
5. “Detention Resistance.” Facebook, July 7, 2023. https://www.facebook.com/DetentionResistance/posts/pfbid0uA9Z77geBjhRp8jtauiJXh9F6j2tQ6M5K4Sobk5htyLLPABn3naNiCzmV4BgtXEol.
6. Detention Resistance. Archived from the original January 19, 2024. Accessed May 12, 2024. https://web.archive.org/web/20240119042259/https://www.detentionresistance.org/
7. “Detention Resistance.” Facebook, July 27, 2023. https://www.facebook.com/DetentionResistance/posts/pfbid02FUCSrXeeM9SYKv5354r2bU8KDYSTwBabBXB4fu7wT69nfVZAoJJp4QdtLWEUTMU8l.
8. “Detention Resistance.” Facebook, July 27, 2023. https://www.facebook.com/DetentionResistance/posts/pfbid02FUCSrXeeM9SYKv5354r2bU8KDYSTwBabBXB4fu7wT69nfVZAoJJp4QdtLWEUTMU8l.
9. “Actions.” Detention Resistance. Archived from the original December 06, 2023. Accessed May 12, 2024. https://web.archive.org/web/20231206110038/https://www.detentionresistance.org/actions.
10. “New Report Shows Ice Exacerbates Suffering for Detained Migrants at Otay Mesa Detention Center under Covid-19.” American Friends Service Committee, October 17, 2020. https://afsc.org/newsroom/new-report-shows-ice-exacerbates-suffering-detained-migrants-otay-mesa-detention-center.
11. Morrissey, Kate. “Otay Mesa Detention Center Blocks Detainees’ Calls to a Group of Activists.” The San Diego Union-Tribune, June 16, 2020. https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/immigration/story/2020-06-15/otay-mesa-detention-calls
12. Alegria, Anaiz. “Take Action: Call-in Campaign Supports Ice Prisoner’s Demand For…” Liberation News, May 10, 2022. https://www.liberationnews.org/take-action-call-in-campaign-supports-ice-prisoners-demand-for-medical-attention/.
13. Complaint Regarding Unprofessional, Unethical and Negligent Treatment by Dr. Fernbach. Accessed May 12, 2024. https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5a33042eb078691c386e7bce/t/622775db6ffa1b1b002be444/1646753244019/Complaint+regarding+Unprofessional%2C+Unethical%2C+and+Negligent+Treatment+by+Dr.+Fernbach+%285%29.pdf.