Lawsuit alleges horrifying conditions at California migrant detention center
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A new federal lawsuit alleges horrific conditions at California’s largest immigration detention facility, including sewage bubbles rising from shower drains and detainees being forced to use dirty bandages to cover open wounds.
The American Civil Liberties Union is among groups representing seven people housed in a previously mothballed prison in the California City desert.
The lawsuit, filed Wednesday, alleges inadequate medical care for serious problems such as cancer, life-threatening heart conditions and diabetes, as well as neglect and forced isolation of people with disabilities.
The complaint also alleges dirty housing, inadequate food and water, very cold temperatures, restrictions on family visits and delays in accessing lawyers. Detainees also report violations of their religious freedom, including the confiscation of prayer rugs, headscarves and even sacred texts.
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A new federal lawsuit alleges horrific conditions at California’s largest immigrant detention facility. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
“ICE is playing with people’s lives and they treat people like they’re trash, like they’re nothing,” Sokhean Keo, one of the plaintiffs, said in a statement Thursday. “Some of the people I detained do not even have soap, they take showers without soap and they lose weight because they do not have enough food.”
Severe understaffing and crumbling infrastructure were also reported at the facility when it first opened, where men were told to clean dirty cells, trash-filled housing units, and “toilets with feces still in them” without being given cleaning supplies.
The complaint alleges that the detention center has worse conditions than a prison where criminals are held. Detainees are kept in their cells for much of the day with nothing to occupy them, “resulting in a pervasive feeling of hopelessness, helplessness, and in some cases, thoughts of self-harm and suicide.”
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The complaint alleges dirty housing units, inadequate food and water, and very cold temperatures. (Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Another plaintiff, Gustavo Guevara, said in his statement: “No human being, immigrant or not, should be subjected to these terrible conditions.” “I hope society recognizes and does not turn a blind eye to the abuse, neglect, indifference and generally unfair treatment we are subjected to. It is not right for them to think that they can treat us this way because we are immigrants.”
Fernando Gomez Ruiz, a diabetic, was eating at a food truck outside Home Depot when he was detained by ICE last month. He said he was denied regular doses of insulin, which “led to elevated blood sugar levels and a large, oozing ulcer on the bottom of his foot,” which he covered with dirty bandages because the facility did not provide clean bandages, according to the lawsuit, which emphasizes that he feared he would lose his foot.
The prison closed in 2023, but ICE has contracted to reopen the facility as an immigrant detention center with 2,560 beds. Authorities began sending immigrants to the facility as of late August.
“The treatment of people held at the California City facility is yet another example of ICE’s complete disregard for the rights and dignity of people in its custody,” Kyle Virgien, senior staff attorney at the ACLU’s National Prison Project, said in a statement. he said. “Access to necessities like food, basic medical care, and counseling is not just a suggestion; they are constitutionally protected rights to which all people in detention are entitled.”
The prison closed in 2023, but ICE has contracted to reopen the facility as an immigrant detention center with 2,560 beds. (Getty Images)
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It currently houses about 800 people and is expected to reach full capacity early next year as the Trump administration continues to target immigrant communities as part of the president’s mass deportation agenda.
Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin denied the allegations, arguing that ICE “has higher detention standards” than most prisons.
“All detainees are provided with three meals a day, clean water, clothing, bedding, showers and toiletries, and have telephone access to communicate with their family members and lawyers. Meals are evaluated by certified dietitians,” the statement said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
