Migrants are processed by U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents at the Paso Del Norte Bridge after receiving an appointment to seek asylum through the CBP One app in El Paso, Texas, on Nov. 7, 2024.
California City, California – Plans to convert a shuttered prison in California City into the state’s largest immigration detention center have ignited deep unease among residents and immigrant advocacy groups. The move marks a significant expansion of federal detention capacity on U.S. soil, raising questions about the human cost of the country’s immigration enforcement policies and the growing role of private prison companies.
The facility, once a 2,500-bed federal prison built by CoreCivic in 1999, most recently operated as a state prison until its closure in March 2024. Now, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has partnered with CoreCivic to transform the site into a sprawling immigration processing center. According to the Los Angeles Times, CoreCivic has already received $10 million in initial funding for a six-month contract and has posted job openings, signaling the rapid pace of this transition.
Yet the plans have provoked an intense backlash from those who see the center as emblematic of a punitive system that detains people not for crimes, but for their undocumented status. The facility’s proposed opening in California City—a remote desert town with a population of about 14,000 and historically high rates of poverty and unemployment—has led to protests, including a packed city council meeting this week where community members and advocates gathered to voice their opposition.
The Dolores Huerta Foundation, an advocacy group named for the renowned labor leader, sent a letter urging city leaders to resist what they called “a system built on incarceration, dehumanization, and profit from suffering.” Camila Chávez, the foundation’s executive director, warned that the center’s establishment would have a “long-term cost” for the community, cautioning that “ICE detention centers don’t exist in isolation” but rather “fuel more raids, more deportations, and more broken families.”
Supporters of the project, including some residents, argue that the facility could provide economic benefits. California City resident John Fischer, speaking to local media, emphasized the jobs and business opportunities the detention center might bring, framing immigration enforcement as a matter of local economic interest and public resources.
The city’s mayor, Marquette Hawkins, acknowledged the potential economic upside but stressed the need for transparency and community oversight. With roughly 40% of the city’s residents identifying as Latino, Hawkins said, “we want to make sure there is fairness here,” and invited ongoing dialogue at council meetings.
Despite the city’s economic hopes, the decision to effectively install a large-scale detention facility in this small desert town underscores a broader national dilemma: the expansion of incarceration-style immigration enforcement on American soil. Unlike typical prisons for convicted criminals, this center will hold people based on their immigration status—many of whom are fleeing danger or seeking opportunity.
For critics, this is not just a local issue; it is a broader concern. It is a stark reminder of a system that treats human beings as commodities to be detained and processed, raising urgent questions about justice, humanity, and the price communities pay when punitive immigration enforcement becomes policy.
