Immigrants allegedly struggled for breath, fainted and vomited on a day-long journey during which they were denied food and water

Immigration authorities in California shackled nine women in a hot windowless van for hours, causing them to struggle for breath, faint and vomit, according to a new lawsuit that details claims of extreme suffering during a day-long journey last year.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California, which filed the suit on Tuesday, alleged that the women were also denied food and water for roughly 12 hours during a 24-hour journey on a hot summer day in 2017, and that they experienced physical injuries, medical complications and psychological damage during the protracted transfer.

“The women all thought they were going to die, that they were going to experience their last breath together in that van,” said Vasudha Talla, an ACLU staff attorney.

“The stench, the heat, the crying, the screaming – it was very traumatic for the women,” Talla said, adding that the women were “treated like cargo”.

Trump blames missed reunification deadline on families: 'Don’t come to our country illegally' Read more

The lawsuit, which alleges a pattern of “burdensome and lengthy voyages”, is seeking records on transportation practices and policies. It comes at a time when Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) and US border agents are facing intense scrutiny over their treatment of people in custody. The Trump administration’s “zero-tolerance” policy led to the separation of thousands of children from their families, with the government failing this week to meet a court-ordered deadline to reunite them.

According to the ACLU and legal filings, the women were detained in a facility in Richmond in northern California when they were woken up in the early morning hours of 17 July 2017 and given little information about where they were going. One of the women, Floricel Liborio Ramos, detailed her account in a blogpost and in a formal claim with Ice, which the Guardian has reviewed.

Liborio Ramos, a 38-year-old mother of three, at first thought Ice was preparing to release her. But instead, officers shackled her wrists and ankles and transported her and other women to San Francisco, placing them in a cold room she described as an “ice box”, the claim said. The women eventually received a sandwich and water bottle at around 10.30am and were later transferred to another city, Gilroy, in a bus without access to a bathroom, Liborio Ramos said.

The women were put in a van that was dark, had no windows, no air circulation and no air vents and looked like it was “used for animals”, she continued. The driver ignored their cries for help, including from one woman who suffered from some kind of phobia and was screaming “in desperation”, the claim said. The shackled women tried to support each other and were blowing air on one other in an attempt to stay cool, Liborio Ramos said, but one of them began throwing up and fainted.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Floricel Liborio Ramos, left, with Vasudha Talla, an attorney. Photograph: Courtesy ACLU of Northern California

When the fainted woman did not respond, the women thought she might have died, but the driver yelled at them to shut up and ignored their banging and pleas, the claim said, adding that he was texting and twice veered off the road.

Liborio Ramos said she believed they would all die and began to pray: “I thought about not seeing my children again, not saying goodbye.”

Hours later, they arrived in Fresno and were given food and water at around 10.30pm for the first time since the morning, Liborio Ramos said, adding that officers only unshackled one of her hands so she could eat. By the time they arrived and were processed at their destination in Bakersfield, about 300 miles south of their original location, a full day had passed, the claim said.

One woman was denied critical diabetes medication during the trip, and another rolled her ankle while being transferred, according to the filings.

The ACLU is also seeking records on G4S Secure Solutions, a contractor and private security company that provides Ice’s transportation services. G4S, which has faced scrutiny over its treatment of immigrants in the UK, did not immediately respond to an inquiry.

Ice declined to comment on the litigation. A spokesman said in an email that the agency “provides safe and humane conditions for all individuals in our custody and adheres to rigorous national standards regarding the transfer of detainees”.

In addition to separating families and moving people across the country, the Trump administration has dramatically escalated crackdowns on immigrant communities, which means there has probably been an increase in vehicle transfers. That made it all the more critical that detainees were treated humanely and safely when they are being transported, Talla said.

“They have an obligation … to provide people with a basic level of rights and care,” she said, adding that the ACLU had received a number of anecdotal reports about mistreatment in vehicles and would like concrete data about related complaints. “We believe that the issue is widespread.”