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Judge to Decide Merit of ACLU Lawsuit Against Otay Mesa Prison

A federal judge in San Diego says he'll decide in a few weeks whether a lawsuit that alleges severe overcrowding at an immigration detention center in Otay Mesa can proceed. The ACLU filed the suit la

Judge to Decide Merit of ACLU Lawsuit Against Otay Mesa Prison

A federal judge in San Diego says he'll decide in a few weeks whether a lawsuit that alleges severe overcrowding at an immigration detention center in Otay Mesa can proceed. The ACLU filed the suit last January. KPBS reporter Amy Isackson has more.

The ACLU suit alleges people incarcerated at the facility have been routinely packed three to a cell designed for two.

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The suit says those conditions are unconstitutional.

Attorneys for the federal government argued in court that they've fixed the overcrowding problem and the suit should be dismissed.

Three days after the ACLU filed the lawsuit, detention center officials moved 200 detainees out of the facility.

ACLU attorney Tom Javits says while detainees may no longer be triple celled the case should continue.

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Javits : There's no guarantee that conditions will not go immediately back to what they were like before we got involved in the case should this case be dismissed.

The ACLU wants the court to order that the facility can never be overcrowded again.

Amy Isackson, KPBS News.