We break down immigration raids and related news in Southern California. Below, you'll find links and references to everything discussed in the video, allowing you to take a closer look at each topic. If you appreciate reporting like this, please consider becoming a member, buying some merch, or dropping a dime in our fundraiser so we can continue bringing you this vital information.
Masuma Kahn and Tania, a Bangladeshi woman and a young Peruvian lady, are two survivors of California City’s privately owned ICE detention center who formed a friendship despite the language barriers that helped them endure the dehumanizing treatment and conditions there.
They found a way to spend the nights talking, developing a friendship that got them both through their ordeal. Tania says she saw Masuma as a motherly, grandmotherly figure who took care of her, and Masuma says she wouldn’t have survived without Tania.
They shared several experiences from inside. In one instance, after Masuma tried to warm her neck with socks to protect herself from the cold AC, she was punished. So Tania tried to cover the AC with paper and paste she made, but she was punished as well.
They also shared that the lights are always on, four TVs are always blasting in different languages, and doors are always slammed. They describe it as psychological torture. And when they would be forced outside once in a while, it was also torture, because tiny thorn burrs would get stuck to their prison-issued socks, and the guards would make everyone pick them off one by one before coming in. At one point, Masuma refused at one point to go out and was put in solitary confinement as punishment.