ICE to convert shuttered California prison into state's largest migrant detention center
A sprawling 2,560-bed facility in the high desert town of California City (Kern County) is poised to become the largest migrant detention center in California under a new agreement between Immigration and Customs Enforcement and private prison contractor CoreCivic.
Ryan Gustin, the company's senior director of public affairs, told the Chronicle on Friday that CoreCivic has 'begun some preliminary activation activities, pursuant to a letter agreement with our government partners at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.'
According to the Los Angeles Times, the federal government entered into a six-month contract with CoreCivic, with $10 million in 'initial funding.'
The facility operated as a state prison until March 2024, when California ended its lease as part of an initiative to eliminate the use of private prisons.
The move comes amid a national push by the Trump administration to expand ICE detention capacity from 41,500 to 100,000 beds nationwide.
Citing a 'compelling urgency,' ICE has bypassed standard competitive bidding procedures, opting instead for expedited, no-bid contracts with major private contractors such as CoreCivic, the Associated Press reported.
'Never in our 42-year company history have we had so much activity and demand for our services as we are seeing right now,' CoreCivic CEO Damon Hininger said during an earnings call with shareholders last month, citing the company's general business.
A recent report from the California Department of Justice listed six active federal immigration processing centers in the state, all run by private companies.
Two of the facilities are in Kern County and run by GEO Group, a CoreCivic competitor. They include the Mesa Verde center in Bakersfield and the Golden State annex in McFarland. GEO Group also operates two additional centers in Adelanto, a desert city in San Bernardino County.
As of late May, California held nearly 3,200 migrants in detention, ranking third nationally, behind Texas and Louisiana. The addition of the California City facility is expected to increase the state's detention capacity by 36%.
California City Mayor Marquette Hawkins acknowledged potential economic benefits, including an estimated 550 new jobs.
'However, we understand that 40% of our residents are Latino,' Hawkins told the Californian. 'We want to make sure there is fairness there. We talked about oversight and my office having the ability to do that.'
Originally built by CoreCivic (then known as Corrections Corporation of America) in 1999 for $100 million, the facility first housed federal inmates.
It was later leased to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, which operated it as a men's prison for nearly a decade until late 2023. Although the lease officially extended through March 2024, state inmates were relocated earlier.
A new sign now identifies the site as the 'California City Immigration Processing Center.' According to Tehachapi News, about 50 vehicles were observed in the parking lot Wednesday afternoon.
As of Friday morning, CoreCivic's website listed several job openings at the California City site, including a managerial role with a salary of $81,265 and 13 health care positions.
Critics continue to raise alarm over the increasing role of private corporations in immigration enforcement.
Advocacy groups, including Californians United for a Responsible Budget — a coalition of more than 100 organizations supporting prison closures — urged Gov. Gavin Newsom to take steps in the 2025-26 state budget to prevent shuttered state prisons from being repurposed for ICE detention.
The coalition called on Newsom to fully decommission all 'warm shutdown' facilities — prisons that, while inactive, remain staffed and maintained — arguing they continue to drain state resources and remain vulnerable to federal takeover.
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