BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — Immigration enforcement has been top of mind nationwide, and U.S. Sens. Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff say a tour of the ICE detention facility in California City raised serious concerns about detainee care and living conditions.
After spending hours inside the facility, Padilla and Schiff said what they saw left them “more concerned than reassured.” The visit came about one year into the second Trump administration.
Padilla said there were “two takeaways from this first year,” pointing first to “economic chaos and uncertainty that so many working families across the country are feeling,” and second to what he described as “the cruelty of a mass deportation agenda.”
The senators said many detainees held at the facility have no prior criminal history. Padilla said some were detained during routine immigration check-ins and later separated from their families.
Inside the facility, Padilla said detainees are housed in cellblock-style pods with up to 85 people per unit, with some held in isolation. He said the most alarming concerns raised during the visit involved medical care.
“I spoke with one woman who is diabetic. It was on her intake form,” Schiff said. “She’s been here for two months and has yet to receive treatment for her diabetes.”
The senators said detainees also reported untreated chronic conditions, inadequate mental health care, mold in food, foul-smelling water and frequent stomach illnesses.
The facility currently houses up to 1,400 people, with plans to expand to more than 22,400. Padilla said what is lacking at ICE facilities nationwide are clear standards and accountability.
“What is lacking, I think, in terms of ICE around the country, are standards to be held accountable to,” Schiff said.
The visit comes months after California City residents raised concerns ahead of the facility’s reopening, urging local officials to intervene. City leaders previously said they had limited authority over the federal detention center.
Padilla and Schiff said they plan to continue in-person oversight and push for stronger accountability, stressing that immigration enforcement must follow existing law.
“They have to be done within policy,” Padilla said. “It has to be done within the letter of the law.”
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