Hello my name is Yesenia Serrano. I was born in El Salvador, I am a mother of 4 children. I came to the U.S. because I was fleeing persecution in my country of origin. I was seeking safety here, but instead was put into immigration detention.
In 2018, I was detained for 10 months at the Mesa Verde ICE Detention Center, located in Bakersfield, CA. This is a for-profit privately owned facility that forces people to work as slaves.
The for-profit company relied on us immigrants administratively detained to do all the work. There my job was to be the janitor of the dormitory. I swept and mopped the dormitory that housed 200 women. I worked an 8-hour shift each day to maintain the dorm. And was given just $1 per day.
I was not given any kind of training to work with dangerous cleaning chemicals, nor was I provided the proper equipment to do such work. If I did not clean, all of us would be subjected to living in unsanitary and unsafe conditions. I had to either clean or suffer the repercussions.
Other detained women had to clean the chow halls & recreational yards. Detained males in other dorms also did all the labor-working in the kitchen, barber shop, and laundry.
During one of my shifts I felt ill in which I had fainted and the facility didn’t do anything until the second time that I collapsed, which required treatment by emergency care. Which shows that we were not seen as human beings.
Today, there are hunger strikers and labor strikes happening in 3 ICE detention centers located in Bakersfield, McFarland, and Adelanto California - protesting inhumane conditions, demanding release and closure.
GEO and ICE have retaliated by brutally assaulting our detained strikers, placing them in solitary confinement and transferring them out of state, such as Tacoma, Washington.
We are being attacked and repressed for asking for dignified treatment and our rights as human beings.
That’s why I stand in solidarity with our community to pass Prop 6 because I know that these carceral systems are places of modern-day slavery. It is taking place in ICE detention centers as well as the prison system. And although Prop 6 won’t directly change things for those in immigration detention, which is a federal issue - passing Prop 6 is an important step towards a future where no one is faced with involuntary servitude or enslaved anywhere.
Yesenia delivered her speech in Spanish and this translation was provided by Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity.
Prop 6 would amend the California Constitution to prohibit slavery and involuntary servitude in any form. It would also prevent the prison system from disciplining incarcerated individuals who decline work assignments and provide them with greater opportunities to participate in rehabilitative programs like education, emotional intelligence courses, and mental health and substance use treatment.
For more information and how to support visit: voteyesprop6
