CA attorney general slams conditions at California’s largest ICE detention facility
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- State AG Bonta found unsafe living conditions, staffing gaps and poor medical care.
- DOJ inspected California City center, citing premature opening and systemic failures.
- DHS and CoreCivic defend operations; lawsuits and calls for federal action mount.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta said he has “grave concerns“ about the quality of medical care and living conditions at California’s newest and largest ICE detention center following a state inspection.
In a seven-page letter sent last week to Department of Homeland Security officials, Bonta said conditions at the California City Immigration Processing Center in Kern County appear to violate ICE’s own standards for detention facilities.
State inspectors found several “grave concerns” with the facility, including “dangerous and inadequate living conditions,” inexperienced staff, unfilled staff positions and insufficient medical care,” the letter said.
“My team has seen and heard first-hand the dangerous conditions at California’s newest detention facility — conditions that violate ICE’s own standards. I implore DHS to take action to address these serious issues,” Bonta said in a statement.
He also warned conditions could worsen if the facility fills to its full capacity of 2,560 amid the growing demand for detention under the Trump administration’s deportation campaign.
As of early December, there were 847 people detained at the detention center, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement data.
The state’s findings mirror concerns raised by immigrant rights groups, detainees and family members since the facility’s reopening. After touring the facility in September, disability rights watchdogs raised similar concerns in a November report about the alleged use of solitary confinement, inadequate medical care and low-quality food.
The federal government, CoreCivic and California City are facing two lawsuits over the facility’s alleged rushed reopening process, living conditions and insufficient medical care.
Federal immigration officials and private prison operators pushed back against the allegations.
CoreCivic Spokesperson Brian Todd said in a statement that California City Correctional Facility’s Warden Christopher Chestnut recently addressed many concerns about the facility in a guest column for the Bakersfield Californian.
”The safety, health and well-being of the individuals entrusted to our care is our top priority,” Todd said in a statement, echoing past CoreCivic statements. “We take seriously our responsibility to adhere to all applicable federal detention standards in our ICE-contracted facilities, including CCCF.” The statement also said its immigration facilities are monitored “very closely” by ICE, and undergo regular review and audit processes to ensure an appropriate standard of living and care for all detainees.
California City Mayor Marquette Hawkins toured the facility shortly after it opened and said that from what he observed, the conditions looked “humane.”
“It’s good to hear that the State Attorney General and his office have taken an active role in oversight of the facility,” Hawkins said in response to the DOJ’s findings. “I have spoken to representatives from CoreCivic and I will be looking to schedule another visit to the facility soon.”
In a statement, Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin called Bonta’s findings a “hoax.”
“California Attorney General Rob Bonta needs to stop with the smears,” McLaughlin said.
McLaughlin said ICE has higher detention standards than most U.S. prisons and that all detainees are provided with proper meals, medical treatment and have opportunities to communicate with lawyers and their family members.
“Ensuring the safety, security, and well-being of individuals in our custody is a top priority at ICE,” McLaughlin said.
DHS officials also shared photos and descriptions of 10 detained men at California City with criminal convictions ranging from drug, assault, and domestic violence, homicide and lewd or lascivious acts with a minor. Though ICE data shows most people held in custody at California City have no prior criminal record.
McLaughlin also called the California DOJ’s inspection findings “dangerous lies” that are contributing to a more than 1,150% surge in assaults against ICE agents. The federal government maintains that attacks on ICE agents have increased more than 1,000%, but an analysis of court records by The Los Angeles Times found that a majority of the alleged attacks resulted in no injury to an agent.
Meanwhile, at least 30 people have died in ICE custody in 2025, the highest level since 2004, according to a Reuters report.
The former privately-operated state prison in the eastern Kern County high desert that closed in early 2024. The privately-operated facility run by Tennessee-based CoreCivic quietly started receiving federal immigration detainees in late August under new contracts awarded by the Trump administration in April.
What state inspectors found at California City ICE facility
On Nov. 20-21, California Department of Justice staff inspected the California City facility. California law allows for review of conditions of confinement, due process and standard of care at civil immigration detention facilities operated in the state.
During their late November inspection, state DOJ staff toured the facility, reviewed medical and detention files and interviewed facility personnel as well as detained individuals.
Bonta listed four major findings in his letter to DHS Director Kristi Noem and other officials. Bonta’s team found: the California City facility opened prematurely and was not equipped to handle the needs of the incoming population; the living conditions are unsafe and unsanitary; the facility’s healthcare system is inadequate and endangering detainees; and CoreCivic is violating ICE detention stations.
CA DOJ staff found a “significant number of staffing vacancies and noted that key staff positions were still unfilled at the time of their inspection. The assistant warden is acting as both a grievance coordinator and the Prison Rape Elimination Act coordinator, inspectors found.
“This lack of preparation has had harmful results to civil immigrant detainees,” the letter said.
As a result of staffing shortages, California City is unable to provide contact visitation to any detainees, inspectors found, “which is a significant deprivation of support during a period of confinement, especially at a time when detainees are facing removal.”
DOJ staff found that the facility only had one dedicated doctor, despite the occasional filling of medical care with physicians from other facilities.
“It was obvious that the only doctor onsite is overburdened and always on call, resulting in triaging instead of providing the necessary medical care,” DOJ staff wrote in the letter.
Healthcare staff acknowledged being behind standard timeline requirements for routine health assessments, and file review confirmed this fact, the letter added.
Detainees interviewed by staff reported to that they are being treated like criminal inmates as opposed to civil detainees. They also told state inspectors that their treatment at California City “is inferior in most respects compared to other detention facilities in California from which they had been transferred.”
According to the inspection, the facility also appears to be engaged in “potentially unlawful discriminatory conduct” against female detainees and detainees who are members of religious minorities, the letter said.
Female detainees are not allowed regular time outdoors, and the large outdoor recreation space in the facility is used exclusively by male detainees, inspection staff found.
Bonta’s team urged the DHS to take action to take corrective action and address the cited issues.
