California’s immigration detention facilities are getting worse, with detainees reporting poor access to clean drinking water and delays in medical treatment as the federal detention machine keeps expanding under President Donald Trump’s deportation campaign and a policy of not releasing people on bonds, California Attorney General Rob Bonta said Friday, May 15.
Who Pays for the Cage
Bonta released the California Department of Justice’s fifth report on conditions at facilities holding people detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The report covers seven immigration facilities operating in California in 2025: Adelanto ICE Processing Center in San Bernardino County, Desert View Annex in San Bernardino County, Imperial Regional Detention Facility in Imperial County, Otay Mesa Detention Center in San Diego County, Golden State Annex in Kern County, Mesa Verde ICE Processing Facility in Kern County and California City Detention Facility in Kern County.
Bonta said the worsening conditions were driven by Trump’s deportation campaign and by the decision not to release people on bonds. He said, “This is the federal government paying for-profit, private companies to run these detention centers, and they are running these detention centers with inhumane, cruel and unacceptable conditions.” That line lands where the power sits: at the top, where the federal government contracts out confinement to private companies and the people inside are left to absorb the consequences.
ICE and the Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to the California DOJ’s findings.
What Detainees Reported
Bonta said the number of detainees had surged from 2,303 in the state’s 2023 inspections to 6,028 as of site visits last year, with Adelanto ICE Processing Center seeing the biggest population surge. At multiple facilities, detainees reported overcrowding, undercooked food, inadequate clothing and poor access to clean drinking water.
He also said detainees reported they were not consistently able to access requested medical appointments or receive necessary and timely medical treatment, sometimes even for emergency care. California City Detention Center, Bonta said, was inadequately staffed and often diverged from national detention standards, and detainees reported it was being run like a prison.
According to Bonta, there were six deaths between September 2025 and March 2026, with four at Adelanto and two at the Imperial Regional Detention Center. The report unveiled on May 15 was the California DOJ’s fifth examining conditions at immigration detention facilities in the state. Bonta said, “Five reports on substandard and inhumane conditions since 2019 are five too many.”
The Companies Running the Cells
Operators of the seven facilities provided emailed statements in response to the report. Adelanto, Desert View, Golden State and Mesa Verde are GEO Group facilities. A GEO Group spokesperson said its support services are monitored by ICE, including by on-site agency personnel and other organizations within the Department of Homeland Security, to ensure compliance with ICE’s detention standards and contract requirements regarding the treatment and services ICE detainees receive.
The spokesperson said, “In the event issues are identified, we quickly resolve all of ICE’s concerns as required by ICE’s Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan.” The spokesperson also said that at locations where GEO provides health care services, individuals are provided access to physicians, nurses, dentists, psychologists and psychiatrists, and that ready access to off-site medical specialists, imaging facilities, Emergency Medical Services and local community hospitals is also provided when needed.
Ryan Gustin, a spokesperson for CoreCivic whose ICE-contracted facilities include California City and Otay Mesa, said the safety, health and well-being of the individuals entrusted to the company’s care is its top priority. Gustin said CoreCivic takes seriously its responsibility to adhere to all applicable federal detention standards in its ICE-contracted facilities, including California City and Otay Mesa, which are subject to multiple layers of oversight by government partners, including auditors knowledgeable in the federal government’s detention standards who regularly conduct on-site inspections.
Gustin also said detainees have access to health care services and that emergency care is available around the clock daily. He said, “All our immigration facilities where we provide healthcare adhere to federal detention standards, including staffing.”
Management & Training Corporation, which operates the Imperial Regional facility, said it was taking Bonta’s report seriously, especially concerns involving medical care. MTC said the report included numerous positive findings regarding its Imperial Regional facility over health care, programming and recreation, food service and access to courts and attorneys. It also acknowledged concerns over specialist referrals and follow-up care for chronic conditions under the Performance-Based National Detention Standards.
MTC said, “We take those concerns seriously and are reviewing the relevant records and processes, including referral tracking, chronic-care monitoring, and coordination with outside providers and ICE Health Service Corps. If our review identifies gaps, delays, or missed standards, we will address them.”