Key facts
- The California City immigration detention center has banned all contact visits for detainees since it opened a year ago.
- Families are forced to communicate with detained loved ones through phone calls behind glass barriers.
- Advocates and detainees argue the ban is inhumane and contributes to psychological distress.
- A state audit suggested the ban may violate the private prison firm CoreCivic's own policy.
- The facility has designated areas that could accommodate contact visits, but these are not being used for that purpose.
Families are protesting a year-long ban on contact visits at the California City immigration detention center, the largest ICE facility in California. Detainees and their loved ones are only able to communicate through phone calls separated by glass barriers, a policy that advocates argue is inhumane and designed to pressure individuals into accepting deportation.
Since the facility opened under the Trump administration, all 1,600 individuals held there have been denied physical contact with visiting family members. This restriction is described as extreme, especially for a facility holding individuals accused of immigration violations, as many prisons for convicted criminals allow contact visits. Advocates like Michelle Brané, former immigration detention ombudsman, state that such policies have become more common since 2016, despite record funding for detention.
Detainees like Allen Tayson, who has been unable to hold his wife and children since his detention in February, describe the conditions as isolating and intended to break their spirit. His wife, Samantha Sanchez, is seven months pregnant and has missed most of her pregnancy without physical contact from her husband. The cost of video calls, 21 cents per minute, adds financial strain to the family.
Advocates also point to a California Department of Justice audit of the California City facility, which found that the prohibition on contact visits may violate CoreCivic's own policy. Photos from the audit show that the visitation area has picnic tables, previously used for contact visits when the facility was a state prison, but detainees are now restricted to using phones at windows.
Reverend Deborah Lee of the Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity noted that the phone communication can be difficult to hear and does not allow for group conversations, calling it a denial of humanity. She also mentioned that the warden, Christopher Chestnut, cited higher overdose rates in facilities with contact visits as a reason for the ban.