ICE detention operator donates to Kern County city home to one of its facilities
One of the country’s largest private-prison operators donated $50,000 to a Kern County city where it operates California’s largest ICE detention facility.
The City Council of California City accepted the donation at its April 14 meeting.
Nearly half of the funds will be used for this year’s Fourth of July fireworks. The remainder will replace basketball hoops at the Strate Center, a public recreation center, and help fund the opening of the city’s pool.
The remote eastern Kern County city of about 13,000 did not have a Fourth of July fireworks show in 2025.
Mayor Marquette Hawkins said the donation was the first the company made to the city since the August opening of the California City Immigration Processing Center.
“They’ve made donations before to some of the organizations in town, some of the nonprofits,” Hawkins said.
Ryan Gustin, senior director of public affairs for CoreCivic, confirmed the company’s contribution in a statement to The Bee.
“Our company, including all our staff who work hard every day at our California City facility, are grateful to be a part of the local community. We are very proud to have made a recent charitable donation to California City, which we understand will be utilized to support opportunities that will be of benefit to the entire community,“ Gustin said.
The California City Community News Facebook page thanked the Tennessee-based company for its contributions, saying the community had “much-needed facility upgrades.”
CoreCivic’s California City Immigration Processing Center opened in fall 2025 amid vocal pushback from immigration advocates. The 2,560-bed facility was a privately operated state prison before closing in early 2024.
According to the latest ICE statistics, approximately 1,300 individuals were detained at the California City facility.
Two separate lawsuits are pending against the city over the reopening process as well as against ICE for allegedly denying medical care at the facility.
Some CoreCivic donations draw scrutiny
It’s not uncommon for companies like CoreCivic to make contributions to cities and the surrounding communities in which they operate.
But not everyone is comfortable with the publicly-traded company’s donations.
A community outreach event hosted by Voices Of Our Youth last fall, in which the nonprofit provided free gas, food and toys for about 100 families, drew scrutiny for including CoreCivic among its sponsors.
The group’s COO, Teri Harrison, defended the donation during an Oct. 28 public hearing related to the opening of the detention center.
“As with any donation that we received from anyone, we put their name on the flyer because that is how we thank them for the donation. No matter who it is, whether we agree with what their organization does or with what they do, we will still put them on the flyer because they contributed to us,” Harrison said during public comment.
During the same hearing, another speaker who identified himself as a California City resident said CoreCivic was “sneakily trying to get their way into the community by sponsoring these events.”
Mayor gives update
Hawkins said things had quieted down since the facility opened about eight months ago.
“We haven’t had advocates for a while,” he said of the council meetings.
Despite the negative press attention, he said California City is a low-crime, close-knit community where residents can still afford to raise a family on a one-salary income. He knows of several city residents who are employed at the detention facility.
For now, he said he’s focused on the city’s “financial distress” and the upcoming budget.
Hawkins said he’s always open to attracting other industries to the city, but he always hears the same answer from big box stores — the population is too low.
This story was originally published April 29, 2026 at 12:55 PM.
