Community organizations (click here) are calling on the Biden administration to uphold its promise and commit to closing the Western Regional Detention Center in downtown San Diego.
It is operated by a private corporation called the GEO Group.
In January 2021, President Joe Biden issued an executive order directing the Attorney General to “not renew Department of Justice contracts with privately operated criminal detention facilities.”
The order included the Western Region Detention Facility, which can hold up to 770 people.
Its contract was set to expire on Sept. 30.
But GEO announced yesterday that its contract with the U.S. Marshals has been extended for six months, allowing it to continue operating while it looks at ways of extending its operations despite the executive order.
“President Biden forbid the Department of Justice from renewing the contract,” said Bardis Vakili, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union in San Diego.
According to Vakili, GEO has found a loophole to continue operating the detention facility....
