California City Detention Facility

California City ICE Processing Center

CA, United States

Contract Detention Facility (CDF)

Operated by CoreCivic

Built 1998; ICE operations began September 2025

Address

22844 Virginia Boulevard, California City, CA 93505

Location

Overview

The California City Immigration Processing Center is a CoreCivic-operated ICE contract facility in the Mojave Desert of Kern County, California. CoreCivic built the site in 1998; it housed federal prisoners from 2000, operated as a California state prison from 2013 until CDCR closed it in 2023, and was repurposed for immigration detention in September 2025. Disability Rights California (DRC) monitored the facility on September 22–23, 2025, shortly after it began confining people—about four weeks after opening. DRC toured intake, food preparation, housing, segregation, medical and mental health care, recreation, and visitation areas, spoke with ICE and CoreCivic leadership, and interviewed 17 detained individuals. ICE reported holding approximately 500 men at the time of the visit across two general-population dorms (three 80-person pods each) plus segregated housing. DRC notes the population has since grown to include men and women, with maximum operating capacity of more than 2,500. DRC found that ICE and CoreCivic were subjecting people with disabilities to abuse and neglect, including: failure to provide critical medical and mental health care (disrupted surgeries after transfers from Golden State Annex and Mesa Verde, medication lapses, delayed sick-call responses); failure to process disability-related accommodation requests in a timely manner and absence of a dedicated disability compliance coordinator; failure to meet basic needs (unsuitable housing, brown or mold-contaminated water, inadequate clothing and laundry, low-quality food); staff harassment and threats; and unnecessary solitary confinement—27 people were in restrictive housing during the visit, some reportedly placed there after requesting improved medical care, with some participating in a hunger strike.

Statistics

  • Approximate detainee population500 people (September 22–23, 2025)Source: Disability Rights California monitoring visit, September 22–23, 2025
  • Maximum operating capacity2,500+ people (2025)Source: CoreCivic contract announcement; DRC report
  • People in solitary confinement27 people (September 22–23, 2025)Source: Disability Rights California monitoring visit, September 22–23, 2025
  • Detainees interviewed by monitors17 people (September 22–23, 2025)Source: Disability Rights California monitoring visit, September 22–23, 2025
  • ICE operations beganSeptember (2025)Source: DRC report; CoreCivic

Further reading

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