(Image source from: AP News)

Immigrants at a federal prison in California earlier this week sued the United States government over conditions used to house detainees since the Trump administration sought to toughen enforcement on the U.S.-Mexico border.

According to a lawsuit filed in federal court in Riverside, unpleasant prison conditions at a medium-security facility in Victorville, California, are too confining for detainees awaiting their immigration court hearings, many who are seeking asylum. It also alleges they have been deprived of religious rights by being denied access to a Bible and use of a Sikh turban.

"As a result of the unconstitutional treatment of these civil detainees, many have expressed a desire to be returned, immediately, to their countries of origin - foregoing their claims for immigration relief altogether - because they would rather face the dangers back home than be imprisoned in these abysmal conditions," according to the lawsuit, which alleges inadequate medical care and food and seeks to have detainees removed from the prison.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) declined to comment on pending litigation. Around 700 detainees are currently at the facility, according to the agency.

The detainees were sent to various prisons by immigration regime in June to deal with overcrowding at immigration facilities.

A separate lawsuit has been filed since then by the immigrant proponent in order to gain access to detainees held in Victorville, who stated that were deprived access to attorneys and phone calls and placed on lockdown for days at a time.

In the lawsuit, plaintiffs said the prison didn’t issue detainees a change of clothing for the first two to three weeks. They only have a few hours of outdoor exercise time each week and no educational or another programming, the lawsuit said.

By Sowmya Sangam