SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – Immigrants detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement have sued the Trump administration over what they describe as inhumane and unlawful treatment at California’s largest immigration detention center, according to an ACLU press release.
The privately owned California City Detention Facility in Kern County, as reported in the lawsuit, has subjected detainees to “abuse, excessive isolation, denial of basic necessities including medical care,” the release reads.
Immigrants in the facility face “terrifyingly inadequate medical care that deprives people of critical treatment for cancer, life-threatening heart conditions, diabetes and other serious medical needs,” according to the ACLU. Detainees also describe severe neglect of people with disabilities, alleging the center fails to provide basic mobility and health-support devices, including wheelchairs.
The conditions of the facility, according to the plaintiffs, include inadequate food and water, extremely cold temperatures and dirty living environments. They also report excessive isolation and solitary confinement, along with violations of religious expression.
The facility has also denied many immigrants access to legal counsel, delaying both in-person and phone calls for weeks at a time, the release added.
ICE contracted with a for-profit company to open the California City detention center at a site previously occupied by a state prison. Detainees and outside community members have expressed outrage over the conditions and called for immediate intervention.
Immigrants in the facility have organized sit-ins and hunger strikes in protest, with one occurring in mid-September.
“I’m bringing this lawsuit to try to help end the suffering and pain that I see in here,” said Sokhean Keo, a named plaintiff. “ICE is playing with people’s lives, and they treat people like they’re trash, like they’re nothing. Some of the people I’m detained with don’t even have soap — they take showers without soap — and they’re losing weight because they don’t have enough to eat. This is bigger than me, but filing this lawsuit feels like something I can do to call for help for myself and everyone else here.”
Gustavo Guevara, another plaintiff quoted in the release, said the treatment cannot be ignored.
“No human being, immigrant or not, should be subjected to these horrendous conditions. I hope society becomes aware of the abuse, neglect, indifference, and the overall unjust treatment we are being subjected to, and does not turn a blind eye. It’s not right that because we’re immigrants, they feel they can treat us this way.”
Transfers into the facility began in late August. About a month later, Disability Rights California evaluated the center and reported that California City “fails to meet people’s basic needs,” fails to “provide access to critical medical” care and “employs staff who harass” detained people.
“The treatment of the people held in the California City facility is yet another example of ICE’s utter disregard for the rights and dignity of people in its custody,” Kyle Virgien, senior staff attorney at the ACLU’s National Prison Project, said. “Access to necessities like food, basic medical care, and counsel aren’t mere suggestions — they are constitutionally protected rights that all people in detention are entitled to.”
Follow the Vanguard on Social Media – X, Instagram and Facebook. Subscribe the Vanguard News letters. To make a tax-deductible donation, please visit davisvanguard.org/donate or give directly through ActBlue. Your support will ensure that the vital work of the Vanguard continues.
