What We Do:
Education and Outreach
Learn About Immigration Detention and
Visit Immigrants Being Held in Detention
Mesa Verde (Bakersfield), and Golden State Annex (McFarland) are private-for-profit detention facilities in Kern County where asylum seekers and people contesting their deportation orders are detained. A volunteer group, called Kern Welcoming and Extending Solidarity to Immigrants (KWESI), runs a volunteer-based visitation program offering people friendship and a connection to the outside world.
On this trip, you will learn about the immigration detention system, and what advocates are doing to close down these detention centers. Someone from KWESI will meet with the group and share about the work they do. If visitation is possible the day you make the trip, you will have the opportunity to visit someone who is in detention.
If you are interested, you can send a message to Jan Meslin. You do not need to be able to speak Spanish in order to visit.
You can also learn more about the immigration detention system by visiting the Freedom for Immigrants website.