Conditions at Massive New California Immigration Facility ‘Are Alarming,’ Report Finds

California’s newest and largest immigration detention center is dangerous for disabled people and others in its care, according to a report this week from a state disability rights watchdog agency.

The findings come as CoreCivic, the private prison company that operates the detention facility in the Mojave Desert town of California City, is also being sued for operating without permits.

The report, released Monday, is based on an inspection by Disability Rights California. It found that the California City Immigration Processing Center overuses solitary confinement and fails to provide critical medical and mental health care, including prescribed medication and surgeries. The facility, a former state prison, is owned and operated by CoreCivic under contract with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

“Nearly every detained individual DRC interviewed reported significant disability related concerns, including issues accessing medical care,” the report said.

In a statement, CoreCivic spokesman Brian Todd said the company takes seriously its responsibility to adhere to federal detention standards in its ICE-contracted facilities.

“The safety, health and well-being of the individuals entrusted to our care is our top priority,” he said.

Disability Rights California has investigative powers under state and federal law to protect the rights of people with physical, developmental and psychiatric disabilities. The organization made a two-day inspection visit to the California City Immigration Processing Center on Sept. 22 and Sept. 23, and it interviewed officials and 17 detainees.

The group documented reports of inadequate access to medical care, including:

• Long delays in rescheduling surgeries that had been arranged for individuals when they were held at other California ICE facilities.
• Failure to distribute prescription medication for diabetes, high blood pressure, migraines, seizures and a mental health disability.
• Delayed responses to sick call requests, such as for blood in the urine and a debilitating thyroid condition.
• Poor management of mental health care, including placing a person in crisis in an observation cell for days without psychological care.

“One individual managing a hernia reported difficulties walking, showering, and accessing the recreation yard. After making several requests over approximately three weeks for a wheelchair, staff finally provided him with one during the second day of DRC’s monitoring visit,” the Disability Rights California report noted.

Living conditions at the California City facility were unsanitary and insufficient, according to the oversight report, with detainees reporting inedible food, brown water and dirty housing units.

It also described an “unnecessary” use of solitary confinement. At the time of the site visit, the group found that 27 people were held in solitary cells, nearly around the clock.

Individuals told the investigators they had not been provided a written explanation for their placement nor an expectation of when they would be released from isolation, but they said they believed they were put in the segregation unit in retaliation for requesting improved medical care and conditions. Some were undertaking a hunger strike.

Conditions at the facility “are alarming,” the report concluded. “Based on the monitoring visit and related interviews, DRC finds that conditions at California City result in the abuse and neglect of people with disabilities.”

ICE did not immediately provide a comment on the Disability Rights California report’s allegations.

Todd, the CoreCivic spokesperson, denied the claims, saying that detainees have access to a full array of health care services, from screening to treatment, and that emergency care is available 24 hours a day.

“All detainees have daily access to sign up for medical care and mental health services. For those medical needs requiring specialized care, the facility works closely with local hospitals and providers,” he added.

Todd said allegations of insufficient clothing, bedding and toiletries, and substandard food and water, were false. Many of the staff members eat the same meals as the detainees and drink the same water, he said.

He also said that “solitary confinement” does not exist at any CoreCivic facility, but he acknowledged that “restrictive housing may be used for various reasons, including medical and mental health observation and administrative/investigative purposes.” Restrictive housing and solitary confinement both refer to holding individuals in single cells apart from the general population, with little social contact. Government agencies and criminal justice experts sometimes use the terms interchangeably.

The prison was built in the 1990s with a 256-bed “segregation unit,” according to court filings in a lawsuit brought by advocates alleging that CoreCivic began operating the ICE facility in late August without first obtaining state and local permits.

ICE’s policies make clear that detention is not a form of punishment, but a means of holding people who are deemed a public safety or flight risk while their immigration case is decided.

ICE and CoreCivic signed a two-year, $130 million contract for the 2,560-bed prison, which had been sitting vacant after California stopped using it for state prisoners in 2023.

As of Oct. 25, the facility was housing roughly 746 ICE detainees, according to a court declaration by the warden. CoreCivic has said it expects the detention center to be fully occupied by early next year.