Immigrant rights advocates and local residents rallied outside the California City Correctional Facility yesterday to denounce CoreCivic’s plan to convert the site into what would become the largest immigration detention center in California.
At the press conference, organizers urged the California City Council to reject CoreCivic’s efforts to reopen the facility and called on city, county, state, and federal leaders to actively enforce zoning, environmental, and public health regulations.
“CoreCivic cannot operate above the law just because it contracts with the federal government,” said Rosa Lopez, Senior Policy Advocate and Organizer at the ACLU of Southern California based in Kern. “The city has a responsibility to its residents to ensure transparency and uphold local codes.”
CoreCivic, a billion-dollar private prison company, has long drawn criticism and faced lawsuits over its alleged profiting from inhumane conditions, medical neglect, forced labor, and other abuses. Opponents argue that the company targets rural communities with empty promises of jobs and economic growth.
Marcela Hernandez, Capacity Building Director at Detention Watch Network, condemned the federal government’s ongoing investment in private detention facilities and linking the expansion to broader immigration enforcement strategies.
“Immigration detention fuels more immigration enforcement — the targeting, detention, and deportation of people — tears apart loved ones and destabilizes communities,” Hernandez said. “What we’re seeing now in detention centers, which are inherently inhumane, is a heightened degree of cruelty as Trump will stop at nothing to dehumanize and vilify immigrants.”
She pointed to a growing national rejection of the carceral economy. “Communities across the country do not want to depend on a carceral economy that profits off of people, and they are making their voices known — from California to Michigan to New Jersey,” she said. “Instead of investing billions of dollars to carry out ICE operations that cause immense harm and sow fear, communities want investment in education, housing for all income levels, climate-resilient infrastructure, and health care that will benefit everyone. We demand investment in Communities, Not Cages!”
Rosa Lopez reinforced CoreCivic’s track record of abuse. “CoreCivic can’t be trusted, its facilities have caused inmate deaths, medical neglect, chronic understaffing, unsafe working conditions, and forced labor. All in the name of profit,” she said. “CoreCivic represents a direct threat to human rights, public safety, and the values we hold as Californians.”
She urged the California City Council to prevent CoreCivic from skirting local accountability. “The City’s power to enforce its municipal code does not disappear simply because CoreCivic contracts with the federal government.”
California labor icon and activist Dolores Huerta also criticized the proposal. “This detention center would be a deterrent to California City,” she said.
California City resident Sarah Rodriguez called the plan a waste of taxpayer money. “As a California City resident, I believe this is a misuse of taxpayer dollars,” she said. “The funds should be used for our schools and youth programs instead of CoreCivic and ICE opening an immigrant detention center.”
Activists condemned the lack of public input surrounding the proposal and demanded a transparent and lawful decision-making process. They urged the city council and elected officials to act swiftly and stop CoreCivic’s plan before it moves forward.
