CA’s largest ICE detention center quietly reopened and is receiving detainees
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- CoreCivic confirms California City ICE facility is operational as of September 2025.
- This is the third ICE detention center in Kern County and California’s largest.
- Advocates warn detention expansion may increase ICE arrests in Kern County.
California’s largest federal immigration detention facility has opened in Kern County.
Private prison operator CoreCivic, which owns and manages the 2,560-bed U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center, confirmed to The Bee that the facility is now operational.
“We have begun receiving U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainees at our California City Correctional Facility (CCCF) in response to an immediate need from the federal government for safe, humane and appropriate housing and care for these individuals,” Ryan Gustin, senior director for public affairs for CoreCivic, said in a statement.
The California City Immigration Processing Center, as it is now known, is the third privately-operated ICE facility in Kern County and the seventh in California. The Geo Group private prison operator runs Mesa Verde in Bakersfield and Golden State Annex in McFarland. The reopening was first reported by Bakersfield’s Eyewitness News KBAK-CBS.
It’s unclear how the facility was able to open without a 180-day public notice as required by state law.
California City Mayor Marquette Hawkins and City Manager Christopher Lopez did not respond to requests for comment on Tuesday.
In an interview with The Bee on Thursday, Lopez said the facility would likely be subject to SB29. The state law prohibits a city or county from approving an immigration detention center, including the reuse of existing building owned by private prison operators, unless the public agency has provided 180-day notice to the public and solicited and heard public comments on the action.
On Thursday, Lopez said he had “no information” on the negotiations between ICE and California City on a longer-term operation contract to re-open.
The privately-operated prison opened in the late 1990s by Corrections Corporation of America, which later became known as CoreCivic. In the early 2010s, CoreCivic had a contract with the federal government to house federal detainees who awaited trial or had pending immigration cases. It later became a privately operated state prison known as the California City Correctional Facility, which closed in 2024 after the state ended its for-profit prison contracts.
Gustin, of CoreCivic, said the reopening will create about 500 new jobs and generate more than $2 million in property taxes to the city.
ICE did not respond to specific questions about when the facility opened. In a statement, a spokesperson said “ICE has worked with private detention operators, local governments, and other federal partners to identify and bring online over 60 new detention facilities to include California City.”
Immigration advocates warned during public comment at a June 24 California City council meeting that the facility’s opening would lead to increased community arrests in the greater Kern County region.
According to a study by the Immigrant Legal Resource Center, immigrants are more likely to be arrested and detained by ICE in counties with more detention beds. In communities with more than 850 ICE detention beds, there was a 6.4 times higher likelihood of arrest, researchers found.
California City had concerns with reopening
Immigration rights advocates have shown up to California City council meetings throughout the summer to voice opposition to the facility’s reopening. City officials have not discussed the facility’s reopening at a public meeting since June 24, according to a review of council meeting agendas.
“We’re troubled by California City turning a deaf ear to the objections voiced by community members and advocates voiced at previous meetings,” said Nora Zaragoza-Yáñez, manager of the Valley Watch Network with the nonprofit group Faith in the Valley.
Faith in the Valley estimated as of Tuesday afternoon that there are already 300 detainees at the California City facility that are being quietly transferred from Golden State Annex and Mesa Verde. The group alleged in a social media post Tuesday afternoon the facility opened “without a valid permit.”
Lopez said Thursday CoreCivic had submitted a site plan review — a necessary step to receive a business license. The facility already had a conditional use permit in place, he said. A Sept 2 planning commission agenda confirms the site plan review was pending.
In a July 29 letter to CoreCivic, Lopez told the private prison operator that the facility “posed a serious and imminent threat to the health and safety of the community of California City.” The city listed four concerns related to insufficient emergency communications, increased demand for police and fire services, as well as paramedics and ambulances for medical emergencies.
The letter also listed concerns with a fire inspection and basic radio test that found the building wasn’t up to code.
Gustin of CoreCivic said the company’s leadership team had an “open line of communication” with California City officials. He said CoreCivic had addressed the concerns raised in the July 29 letter.
This story was originally published September 2, 2025 at 1:29 PM with the headline "CA’s largest ICE detention center quietly reopened and is receiving detainees."
