Mira Loma Inmates Protest Slow Deportation Process

A six-hour demonstration by hundreds of detainees imprisoned in Lancaster ended Monday after negotiators pledged to accelerate bogged-down deportation proceedings.

Up to 650 inmates participated in the largest protest ever staged at the Mira Loma Detention Center. Many flung bright orange prison clothing and trash onto razor-wire fences while others unfurled banners made from bedsheets and yelled to spectators, demanding that they be deported or released on bond.

The demonstrators said many of them have been held for months in a facility where tensions have been described as a time bomb.

The protest ended shortly after 4 p.m., following talks between protesters and representatives of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, state Department of Corrections and the Sheriff’s Department.

“It’s over,” Assistant Sheriff Larry L. Waldie announced as he walked out of the gates. “The situation is over here. The needs of the inmates have been met.”

One of the demands granted was that detainees be allowed to speak to the media regarding their long-standing complaints about the slow pace of deportation proceedings.

Mira Loma, which has been used for detainees for more than two years, currently houses 869 inmates.

Almost half of those there Monday were from Mexico; the remainder are from 40 nations.

Spectators on Monday included relatives of inmates who said they received phone calls over the weekend from family members complaining that they lack shoes and adequate clothing and that personal items such as toothbrushes were taken from them.