By Alfonso Sierra | El Popular
BAKERSFIELD, CA – The Kern Rapid Response Network, along with state and national partner organizations, held a press conference July 30 to denounce the planned construction of what would be the state’s largest immigrant detention center.
Participants accused the California City Council of turning its back on residents as it negotiates “behind closed doors” a deal to develop a 2,560-bed facility in California City, about 100 miles north of Los Angeles in Kern County.
Kern County is already home to two immigration detention centers, the Golden State Annex in McFarland and Mesa Verde in Bakersfield.
“Communities across the country don’t want to rely on a prison economy that profits from the people, and they’re making their voices heard across the country, from California to Michigan to New Jersey,” said Marcela Hernández, director of Capacity Building for Detention Watch Network, which advocates for ending immigrant detention in the U.S.
Speakers called on local officials to focus instead on community needs, including public health, safety, zoning, and environmental laws.
“Instead of investing billions of dollars to carry out ICE operations that cause immense harm and sow fear,” added Hernández, “communities want investments in education, housing for all income levels, climate-resilient infrastructure, and healthcare that benefits everyone. We demand investment in communities, not cages!”
Community members also voiced their opposition.
“As a resident of the city of California, I believe this is a misuse of taxpayer money and that the funds should be used for our schools and youth programs,” said Sarah Rodriguez, one of dozens who turned out in triple digit heat to protest the planned center.
CoreCivic, the corporation behind the planned construction, reached a $31 million deal with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) earlier this year to develop the center, located about 6 miles outside California City. Critics say the location’s extreme isolation would make it hard for detainees to secure legal representation, medical care and family visits.
CoreCivic currently operates 82 facilities across the nation, including three in California: the Otay Detention Center, the California City Immigration Processing Center, and the Leo Chesney Detention Center.
The company has a long, well-documented history of human rights abuses, including forced labor, unsafe conditions, and violence. Multiple lawsuits, meanwhile, accuse CoreCivic of forcing detainees to work for their basic needs; threats of punishment for complaints about working and living conditions, as well as cases of physical and sexual abuse by officers.
Detainees are reportedly required to purchase items such as soap, blankets, and toilet paper from the company’s commissary, and work is often the only way to pay for these essentials. This practice also extends to CoreCivic’s residential reentry centers, with allegations of forced labor in halfway houses.
Several reports detail inadequate staffing, high guard turnover rates, and a lack of security measures.
A lawsuit against CoreCivic in Tennessee alleges that prison staff at the Trousdale Turner Correctional Center allowed gang members to assault an inmate and extort money from his family.
CoreCivic has reportedly spent millions of dollars settling lawsuits related to alleged mistreatment. The company has faced legal challenges to its contracts, including attempts to ban private prisons in some states.
“What we’re seeing now in detention centers, which are inherently inhumane, is a heightened level of cruelty, as Trump will stop at nothing to dehumanize and vilify immigrants,” said Hernández.
More than 13 people have died this year in immigrant detention.
Immigrant rights advocates say the company often preys on rural communities like California City with false promises of jobs and income. The damage to community, they add, far outweigh any benefit.
“CoreCivic cannot be trusted,” said Rosa López, senior policy advocate and organizer with ACLU SoCal in Kern. “Its facilities have been linked to inmate deaths, medical neglect, chronic understaffing, unsafe working conditions, and forced labor, all in the name of profit.”
She continued, “CoreCivic poses a direct threat to human rights, public safety, and the values we hold dear as Californians. The California City Council has a responsibility to hold CoreCivic accountable to state and local laws. The City’s power to enforce its municipal code does not disappear simply because CoreCivic contracts with the federal government.”
