WASHINGTON, DC — On May 27, 2026, Representatives Kevin Mullin (CA-15), Zoe Lofgren (CA-18), Luz Rivas (CA-29), and George Whitesides (CA-27) made an unannounced oversight visit to the California City Detention Center, the largest facility in California operated by U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement (ICE).
“There are over 1,600 civil detainees being held at taxpayers’ great expense at this former prison outside California City,” the Members said. “Congress has the authority and responsibility to conduct oversight and ensure that all individuals in federal custody are treated in accordance with the law. What we observed during our visit is an improvement from the abysmal conditions in November that were described in AG Bonta’s report, but ICE is still falling short when it comes to providing adequate healthcare and contact visits for detainees. Due to the Trump administration’s policies, people are in custody for long periods of time. Republicans sent $75 billion to ICE in their Big Ugly Law last summer, yet ICE continues to operate substandard facilities around the United States where death rates and illness have skyrocketed. As we return to Washington next week, we will continue to fight for transparency from ICE, and we will hold this agency accountable for any violations of the law.”
The four Members of Congress spent roughly two hours touring the facility and were granted access with no advanced notice, as federal courts have upheld the authority of Congress to investigate detention conditions at ICE facilities.
The California City Detention Center, operated by CoreCivic, is a former prison in Kern County with a maximum capacity of 2,560 detainees, according to the 2026 California Department of Justice report on immigration detention released on May 15th. That report concluded that this facility had crisis-level healthcare understaffing in November 2025 with only one physician providing care, and no backup physician consistently available to provide coverage when the single physician was unavailable. That report also said that healthcare records and detainee interviews revealed multiple instances of failures to give detainees access to outside specialists.
A federal district court issued a preliminary injunction on February 10th requiring extensive reforms at Cal City due to likely violations of detainees’ constitutional rights at the facility resulting from the substandard conditions.
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