CALIFORNIA CITY, Calif. — Immigration detention has expanded under newly-issued orders during the Donald Trump administration, drawing renewed scrutiny from civil rights organizations that warn conditions inside detention facilities pose serious risks to health, safety and basic human dignity even as plans move forward to expand capacity nationwide in the coming year.
California City, home to one of the largest immigration detention facilities in the country, has drawn criticism following multiple allegations of abuse at the site, according to an opinion article published by The Sacramento Bee. The city is one of several locations nationwide that operate detention centers, jails and military bases where immigrants are held before deportation.
Following the Trump administration’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” Section 70101 of the legislation allocates “$45 billion to ICE to expand adult and family detention capacity,” according to a report by the U.S. House Committee on the 119th Congress. The report also gives the Department of Homeland Security authority to establish its own guidelines for detention facilities during ongoing operations.
In November, detainees at the California City facility filed a class-action lawsuit alleging that staff “routinely engage in abusive behavior and unreasonable use of force” and that individuals are “routinely subjected to solitary confinement for conduct that should not be punished at all,” according to The Sacramento Bee.
On Dec. 19, California Attorney General Rob Bonta raised concerns in a detailed letter to the Trump administration regarding what he described as “dangerous and inadequate living conditions” at the facility, according to The Sacramento Bee.
According to The Washington Post, the Trump administration has proposed using warehouse facilities to house immigrants as part of efforts to speed the deportation process.
Advocates have criticized the use of warehouses for immigrant detention, noting that “such structures are designed for storage and shipping, not human habitation … [for] thousands of full-time residents,” according to The Washington Post. Critics argue the plan effectively treats human beings as objects of transit.
In July, PBS reported on President Trump’s visit to the Everglades Detention Facility, known as “Alligator Alcatraz,” which he referenced as a potential model for detention centers nationwide. Amnesty International has reported that detainees at the facility are “living in inhuman and unsanitary conditions … medical care is inconsistent, inadequate, or denied altogether.”
In December, the American Civil Liberties Union sent a letter to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other government officials describing accounts from detainees living at Fort Bliss “in cramped, squalid soft-sided tents with 72 people per unit, where toilets and showers flood eating areas with raw sewage,” according to the letter referenced by The Sacramento Bee.
The ACLU also cited accounts from Fort Bliss alleging that “officers have beaten detainees and used threats of violence, criminal charges, and imprisonment in attempts to coerce people,” according to the letter.
Prior judicial decisions have indicated that immigrants in detention receive fewer protections because they are not covered by the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment. However, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has noted that “(a civil) detainee is entitled to ‘more considerate treatment’ than his criminally detained counterparts,” according to court precedent cited by The Sacramento Bee.
Civil rights advocates continue to call for congressional investigations into the expansion of immigrant detention centers.
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Categories: Breaking News Immigration State of California Tags: California City Civil Liberties Department of Homeland Security Deportation Donald Trump Human Rights ICE Immigration Detention Rob Bonta Trump Administration