The reopening of California City’s detention center by CoreCivic, the largest private for-profit prison operator in California, is raising alarms among Fresno immigration advocates and local communities.

On Aug. 29, the Rapid Response Network of Kern — a collaborative of local organizations, community leaders and immigrant rights advocates — said in an Instagram post that CoreCivic is operating and transferring detained immigrants into the California City detention center without a valid permit, while its application for approval remains under review. 

CoreCivic, based in Nashville, Tennessee, is one of the largest operators of private prisons, jails and detention facilities in the country. The company owns the California City Facility, located in California City in Kern County—about 70 miles southeast of Bakersfield. The facility previously operated as a state prison until March 2024 as part of efforts to reduce reliance on private prisons.

What is CoreCivic?

Beyond California City, CoreCivic plays a major role in the U.S. detention system. The corporation is led by CEO Damon T. Hininger, who has close ties to the Trump administration, working with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to provide 28,000 beds that could generate billions of dollars in revenue for the company.

Lourdes Medina, communications organizer for Services, Immigrant Rights and Education Network (SIREN), said CoreCivic’s track record is proof that expansion will put undocumented individuals at greater risk. She highlighted CoreCivic’s record of human rights violations—including physical violence, sexual abuse, understaffing issues and even murder—which has been under investigation by the Department of Justice.

Medina said the recently passed “One Big, Beautiful Bill” Act (H.R. 1) includes significant funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Signed into law on July 4, the Republican-backed bill allocates roughly $165 billion to the DHS and its security activities. 

This includes $45 billion for building new immigration detention centers, including family facilities—a 265% increase from ICE’s current detention budget. The allocation is 62% larger than the entire federal prison system’s budget and could lead to the daily detention of at least 116,000 non-citizens.

“It’s an unfortunate thing,” Medina said. “We hope soon enough, people will ask our government and our members of Congress here in the state of California to check in.”

 CoreCivic has now repurposed the site as an ICE detention facility with 2,560 beds.  The detention center is located about 40 miles north of Lancaster from California City and roughly two and a half hours from Fresno. 

The Fresno Bee has also confirmed its quiet reopening. 

What’s Happening in California City? 

Rosa Lopez, senior policy advocate and organizer for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Southern California and a member of the Rapid Response Network of Kern County, has been co-leading efforts to stop CoreCivic’s operations. 

Lopez said her clients confirmed CoreCivic’s subtle reopening after being transferred from the Mesa Verde U.S. ICE Processing Facility to California City, despite the company lacking a valid permit. 

She is now working to rally support from local representatives to shut down what she calls CoreCivic’s illegal operations. On Sep. 2, Lopez, along with organizers, immigration lawyers and advocates such as Dolores Huerta, flooded California City Hall, while the planning commission’s Zoom call was filled with 75 participants, all urging the committee to publicly oppose CoreCivic.

“We’ve been trying to pressure local representatives and the planning commission to reject CoreCivic’s permit,” Lopez said. “CoreCivic is still in the process, but went ahead and opened anyway.”

Nora Zaragoza-Yañez, program manager for the Valley Watch Network at Faith in the Valley, shares the same concerns. Her worries are not only about how CoreCivic could operate without a legal permit, but also about how several federal agencies have now been deputized with immigration enforcement power. The Pentagon is also recruiting civilians to aid in deportation efforts.

Zaragoza-Yañez believes that, with all these factors, the Central Valley—including Fresno—will see an increase in raids and enforcement.

“It’s going to impact the Central Valley and the state, quite frankly, in unimaginable ways,” Zaragoza-Yañez said. “We’re at a loss for words at how local government can turn a blind eye and not properly vet agencies like this.”

During the California City planning commission meeting, Planning Director Anu Doravari read aloud a report indicating that CoreCivic had resubmitted paperwork with new documents, which are currently under review.

Commissioner David Brottlund asked Doravari whether the planning commission has any decision-making authority regarding CoreCivic at this time. Doravari deferred the question to attorney Christy Marie Lopez, who explained that CoreCivic is taking a “different approach” to opening the detention center. Lopez added that she has not been “provided or seen” the updated application documents and that, to her understanding, CoreCivic’s revised business plan changes how the project would be approved under state law. 

Two attendees in the meeting shared that they had been directly affected by the reopening of the detention facility. 

One was a girl named Monica, who withheld her last name from the committee. She asked the commission for help in understanding why her father was being transferred from the McFarland detention center to the California City detention center. The committee said they were not allowed to comment and suggested that she direct her questions to a federal office. 

Another speaker, a mother who did not give her name but was accompanied by Jose Hernandez, a translator who works for the Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity, also addressed the committee. The mother raised the same questions about why her son was being moved from McFarland to California City. She begged through tears, telling the committee that her son had done nothing wrong. 

“My son has already been detained for six months,” the mother said. “He was doing no wrong; all he was doing was going to work.”

As the planning commission only holds advisory power, any final approval would ultimately need to go before the City of California City Council.

The Collegian has reached out to the City of California City Council for comment, but has not received a response.

With CoreCivic’s business plan under review, federal funding for expanded detention and new enforcement measures underway, Fresno-area organizations like SIREN are calling for increased oversight and action. For now, the fate of the facility and its impact on the region remains uncertain.