WATCH: Padilla, Schiff Conduct Oversight of California City ICE Detention Center

KERN COUNTY, CA - Today, U.S. Senators Alex Padilla, Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Immigration Subcommittee, and Adam Schiff, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, conducted an oversight visit to the largest detention center in California, located in California City, to learn firsthand of the concerns surrounding the condition of detained individuals at this facility amid the Trump Administration's mass detention and deportation campaign. One year into President Trump's disastrous, anti-immigrant presidency, the Senators exercised their Congressional oversight role through a briefing and tour of the facility before meeting with dozens of Californians and other detained individuals, many with no criminal record, whom Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) have swept up indiscriminately.

The oversight visit comes as the number of immigrants detained by ICE swells to nearly 73,000 - more than ever before in U.S. history. After 32 people died in ICE custody in 2025, the deadliest year since 2005, at least six individuals have already died in their custody this year.

After ICE began transferring people to the CoreCivic-managed facility in late August, they have rapidly expanded the facility toward their goal of filling all 2,560 beds, raising significant concerns about ICE and CoreCivic's ability to maintain adequate conditions for the people detained there. ICE officers informed the Senators today that the facility now holds 1,450 detained individuals.

With Congress set to consider legislation to further increase ICE funding and detention beds, the Senators pulled back the curtain on the inhumane conditions detained individuals at California City are facing. The Senators investigated reports of unsanitary and unsafe facility conditions, inadequate medical and mental health care, insufficient access to legal counsel, a severe lack of accommodations for people with disabilities, and the unnecessary use of solitary confinement.

"One year into Donald Trump's campaign of terror against immigrant communities, we must hold this Administration accountable for its cruel and indiscriminate mass deportation agenda," said Senator Padilla. "We saw firsthand today at California's largest detention center the inhumane conditions that detained individuals are facing, violating basic standards for access to health care, food, water, and legal counsel. ICE and CBP continue to detain immigrants with no criminal record, all while wasting billions in taxpayer funds and doing little to increase public safety. With more and more people dying in ICE custody as detentions reach record levels, I won't stop fighting to ensure basic protections for detained individuals and end the egregious abuses of power by this out-of-control Administration."

"I've been aghast at what we're seeing around the country and in California, with indiscriminate immigration raids and with the brutality that's being used against people who have no criminal record. And one year in, things may just get worse, with the President threatening to invoke the Insurrection Act, further militarize the streets and use the military against their own people. Much of the trauma people are experiencing in our communities is out in the open, often captured on video. The pain people experience after their arrest is hidden from view, and that is why we are here today. To conduct necessary oversight, and see firsthand what the conditions are like, and to make sure that people are treated humanely and have their rights observed," said Senator Schiff.

California groups previously unveiled major issues with conditions at the California City Detention Facility. Disability Rights California (DRC), the largest disability rights organization in the nation, found that the facility "fails to meet people's basic needs," lacks "access to critical medical" care, and "employs staff who harass" detained people, while subjecting dozens of individuals to solitary confinement. After California Department of Justice staff visited the facility in November 2025, Attorney General Rob Bonta sounded the alarm that the rapid scaling up of detentions shortly after the facility reopened did not provide CoreCivic enough time to ensure that the facility was adequately prepared to accommodate detained individuals.

The California City facility operates under less stringent and protective standards and still has not been inspected by the Department of Homeland Security.

Senator Padilla has been a leading voice in opposition to President Trump's cruel and indiscriminate mass deportation agenda and denial of basic services for detained individuals. Last year, Padilla introduced the Access to Counsel Act to ensure that U.S. citizens, green card holders, and other individuals with legal status can consult with an attorney, relative, or other interested parties to seek assistance if they are detained by CBP for more than an hour at ports of entry, including airports. Padilla and Schiff also introduced the Restoring Access to Detainees Act, a bill to ensure the Department of Homeland Security allows detained noncitizens to contact legal counsel and their families. Last July, Padilla joined a Senate Judiciary Immigration Subcommittee hearing to set the record straight on President Trump and Stephen Miller's cruel mass deportation campaign, blasting the Administration for intentionally stoking fear and scapegoating immigrants.

Video of Padilla and Schiff's remarks following the briefing and tour can be watched here and downloaded here. Padilla's remarks in Spanish are available here.

Additional photos from the event are available here.

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