SAN FRANCISCO — An alliance of justice, interfaith and immigrant advocacy groups delivered a petition backed by 1,100 signatures to the office of California Sen. Alex Padilla, calling on him and Congress to press for contact visitation at the California City ICE Detention Center, according to a press release from Hugs Beyond Bars, a grassroots advocacy group.
The effort follows a vigil held outside the San Francisco U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building on Aug. 6, with about 100 people in attendance, according to NBC. There, participants commemorated those who had been killed by ICE, whether in raids or in detention centers.
Based on the National Immigration Project, at least 24 people have died in ICE custody in 2026.
At the vigil, Rabbi Cat Zavis spoke, explaining, “We are here today because we refuse to stand by and watch as our neighbors, community members and family members are kidnapped from their schools, workplaces, homes, airports or while driving their children to daycare or school.”
Delivered directly after the vigil, the petition specifically requests that Congress urge ICE and CoreCivic — the prison company operating ICE’s detention centers — to allow contact visits, as Congress cannot directly affect change on this matter. CoreCivic stands as the largest private prison company in the world.
Considering its for-profit nature, CoreCivic’s contracts with the federal government to manage detention centers like the CCDC have been incredibly lucrative. The company’s revenue increased by more than 27% from contracts with ICE alone, according to Truthout.
Another source of profit comes from multiple contracts with the Department of Homeland Security to increase the federal government’s capacity for ICE detention.
Since July of this year, CoreCivic has earned $2.2 billion in profit, selling four prisons in California, Minnesota and Kansas to the federal government. Each of these will continue to be managed and operated by CoreCivic under new contracts with ICE.
This petition supports an end to such profit-based contracting, with its supporters arguing for visitation simply to maintain the livelihood of these detainees. After the vigil, when the petition was presented to employees in Sen. Padilla’s office, a recording of a current CCDC detainee named Santos was played.
In the recording, Santos stated, “I ask anyone willing to hear and listen to the cries behind these walls to please help us get contact visitation at California City.” He continued, arguing for the importance of contact because “like my son, there are many other children out there who need a hug, who need to be held and told that they are missed.”
Another individual who spoke at the rally was Samantha Sanchez, a pregnant mother whose husband had been detained at CCDC for six months. “He’s in a depressed place, and he doesn’t see us, and he can’t hug us,” she stated.
Further emphasizing the positive impact of contact visitation, she added, “We would want to be able to see him without a glass between us, and be able to hug him.”
According to the Los Angeles Times, both California senators, Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff, previously visited the CCDC facility on Jan. 10, ultimately decrying it for its inhumane and unsafe living conditions. While Sen. Padilla has not made any new comments about this more recent petition, he has historically opposed ICE’s treatment of its detainees, pushing for better treatment and much greater oversight.
Sen. Padilla’s staffers openly embraced the petition the crowd brought with them, chanting, “Hugs beyond bars now.”
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