Located in the high desert of Southern California, the California City detention center is 100 miles northeast of Los Angeles proper. It has since become the state’s largest Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) prison since its re-opening under a private prison pipeline. This facility, which occupies the site of a state prison that closed in March 2024, was renovated and reopened by CoreCivic, a private prison corporation. The size of the center is 2,560 beds. Revelations of dangerous living conditions and claims of systematic abuse by detainees have sparked outrage and alarm.
Former inmates call their experiences “hell on earth.” Inside the facility’s walls, they face a host of hazards. Many detainees have reported inadequate access to basic necessities and troubling interactions with staff, raising serious questions about the treatment of individuals held there.
Conditions Inside the Detention Center
Detainees at the California City detention center have expressed their concerns about deplorable living standards. They report that toilets and sinks often clog or stop working altogether. Further, while detainees may be asked to clean their own cells, they frequently lack appropriate cleaning supplies with which to do so.
While in their detention, detainees are confined to their cells for 23 hours a day with little access to outdoor recreation. When finally released under the live-action parents’ supervision, they are most often tossed into a barren, dusty courtyard with few or no attractions, amenities, or activities.
“They like to power trip and show their authority.” – Keo
Food amounts are under a microscope. Numerous detainees have attested that the food provided is not enough and that they go hungry. Some of these people have had to start rationing their meals and worrying about whether the water they’re receiving is safe.
Treatment by Staff
Alarming allegations of excessive force and cruel punishment used by employees only add to the culture of fear and intimidation in the facility. Most detainees paint a picture of encounters that are almost paramilitary. They describe the experience of being yelled at to get in line with exaggerated commands like, “Get in your cells! Lockup! Count time!”
“It’s very aggressive, like we’re in a military bootcamp.” – Oscar
Detainees mention invasive searches conducted by staff, which often involve commands to “get your hands on the wall and spread your legs.” Searches such as these are harassing, intimidating, and dehumanizing. Ultimately, hundreds of thousands start to see themselves as undocumented instead of noncombatants simply awaiting a fix to their immigration status.
“It’s procedure. If you don’t like it, too bad.” – Staff
Yet the emotional toll of these experiences weighs heavily on detainees. Rising anxiety and panic Reports have surfaced of people losing access to essential medications and facing abusive treatment causing levels of anxiety and panic.
“When I don’t get it, my heart starts beating really fast, my whole body starts sweating. It’s like I’m about to have a heart attack. I feel like I’m dying.” – Keo
Calls for Help and Reform
With these grim tales swirling around, detainees from the inside are calling out to the outside for help and change. Through the facility’s walls, you can hear their cries of anguish and hopelessness. As one former detainee put it, this is an environment created to “break you.” So mentally, spiritually and physically.
“There is nothing but harassment and torture here. It’s inhumane, unsanitary and a health hazard every single day … Please, please help us, please.” – Sokhean Keo
As Fernando, one of many detainees to speak publicly about the dangers to their health from deteriorating conditions, described.
“They’re just going to let me die in here.” – Fernando
As advocates call for transparency and reform within ICE facilities nationwide, the accounts emerging from California City highlight urgent issues that need addressing. The treatment of detainees raises ethical questions about the private prison industry’s role in managing immigration enforcement and the standards that should be upheld to protect vulnerable populations.