Local advocates and health experts gathered together Tuesday evening for a virtual community briefing to discuss how immigration detention centers affect families and communities across Kern County.
Kern County has three ICE detention facilities: the Golden State Annex in McFarland, the Mesa Verde ICE Processing Center in Bakersfield, and the recently opened California City Correctional Facility in California City.
Panelists said the impacts of these centers extend far beyond the people being detained.
Dr. Tanya Pacheco-Warner, Dr. Tanya Pacheco-Warner, executive director of the Central California Health Policy Institute at Fresno State, said children in families affected by detention can experience trauma known as Adverse Childhood Experiences, or ACEs.
Research shows these early traumatic events can lead to long-term health problems, including diabetes, obesity and substance use.
Pacheco-Warner also said local health systems feel the strain.
Emergency services are stretched, and community fear makes people less likely to seek care. She noted that missed appointments and reduced prenatal visits are already being reported, which can affect the health of both mothers and infants.
“We’re not just talking about one individual or one detention center,” she said, “but how a community has changed for generations.”
Lourdes Medina, advocacy and communications associate with SIREN, said the immigration detention system is “unfixable” and that ending detention is the only real solution.
She said Kern County is often targeted because of its political climate and longstanding ties to law enforcement, making it a strategic location for ICE to operate “with less local resistance.”
Medina described the emotional toll on families who live with the constant threat of detention.
She said she frequently calls local, state and federal officials because she worries about the world her young granddaughter could inherit.
“We do not need detention centers,” she said. “What we do need is solutions.”
Jeannie Parent, executive director of Kern Welcoming and Extending Solidarity to Immigrants, said many people in detention are not criminals. She said this includes asylum seekers who followed legal procedures, visa holders, and permanent residents with pending cases.
Parent described conditions at the California City facility as similar to a maximum-security prison, with two-person cells, medical neglect, limited food, and high fees for phone calls and video visits. She said families cannot touch or hug during visits because they are separated by glass.
“You are seeing your loved one behind glass,” she said. “Parents are not able to hug their children.”
Panelists said community members can help by supporting local nonprofits, volunteering, donating, and contacting their elected officials.
Panelists also said community pressure is one of the most effective tools to push for oversight and policy change.
“This is not inevitable,” Pacheco-Warner said. “We created these crises, and we can mitigate the effects together.”
They said that even small actions can help protect families, strengthen communities, and challenge the systems that sustain immigrant detention in the San Joaquin Valley.
