Residents of California City and Kern County gathered Tuesday for an emergency action rally, urging city council members to reject plans for a CoreCivic immigration detention center within city limits.
During the scheduled August 12 meeting, the discussion was abruptly canceled after the council failed to meet quorum.
During an interview with Kern Sol News, California City Mayor Marquette Hawkins stated that California City has limited authority and oversight of the CoreCivic project and that they won’t stop them from moving forward.
When Kern Sol spoke with California City Mayor Marquette Hawkins about the public pushback, he emphasized the city’s limited authority over the project.
“We have no jurisdictional authority over what CoreCivic does on their own land, in their own building, and with a contract with the federal government,” Hawkins said. “The city is not in the position to stop them from moving forward.”
However, Hawkins said he has directly requested that CoreCivic’s board grant him, or a designated representative, unrestricted access to enter the facility at any time to ensure operations remain above order.
“In talking to people in the community, they see a benefit in the jobs that it’s creating, the revenue that it could potentially bring in the city, and again on the flip side, it’s a facility where people are being disappeared on the street and housed in these places,” said Hawkins.
Rosa Lopez of the Rapid Response Network of Kern said the group has been opposing the project since earlier this year, when they learned about federal funding available for immigration detention expansion.
“We started monitoring across the country of who was going to, you know, go after that kind of funding… and CoreCivic is one of the first,” said Lopez during the outside action rally.
Lopez said the organization worked to bring community members together with city officials to express concerns and remind them they should represent residents, not a “billion-dollar corporation whose only interest is to profit.”
At a June city council meeting, members of the public were told the council could not stop the facility from opening. However, residents insist city leaders have a responsibility to enforce local laws, ensure businesses comply with regulations, and secure proper permits, including environmental clearances.
For months, community members have attended council meetings, pushing to have the CoreCivic proposal placed on the public agenda. Many argue the city should focus on urgent needs such as water access, healthcare, and other essential resources, rather than welcoming a private prison corporation.
