A court-appointed medical monitor has found serious and ongoing failures in the healthcare system at California City’s federal immigration detention facility, adding fresh scrutiny to a site that has drawn criticism since it opened last year.
Dr. Muthusamy Anandkumar, who was assigned by a judge to inspect conditions at the California City Immigration Processing Center, concluded that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is not providing detainees with adequate medical care. His report describes detainees going without prescribed medications and waiting months for cancer treatment at the facility, located roughly 75 miles east of Bakersfield.
The center is operated by CoreCivic, a private prison contractor. The federal government bought the property earlier this month, though CoreCivic continues to run day-to-day operations there.
Anandkumar’s appointment stems from a lawsuit filed by seven detainees who argue that conditions inside the facility violate their constitutional right to due process. A federal judge named him as an independent monitor in March to assess the situation firsthand.
In his findings, Anandkumar wrote that the facility “lacks a reliable system to consistently provide adequate health care, placing individuals at serious risk of both immediate and long-term harm.” He added that the pattern of problems pointed to systemic breakdowns in how healthcare is delivered, rather than isolated incidents.
According to the report, the shortcomings are not the fault of individual medical staff but stem from deeper issues with staffing levels, management and oversight. Anandkumar noted that employees were sometimes pulled from training sessions to fill gaps in coverage caused by staff shortages — meaning workers who had not completed their own training were left to instruct incoming employees.
“Given the number of patients and the seriousness of their medical and mental health needs, these substantial gaps contribute to an unsafe environment,” he wrote.
The monitor identified 13 separate areas of concern within CoreCivic’s healthcare operations, including shortcomings in emergency response, dental services and the management of chronic illnesses. He also found that detainees were not getting timely access to medications they had been prescribed.
ICE began housing detainees at the site — a former state prison — in August. The following month, the advocacy group Disability Rights California conducted its own two-day review of the facility and reported similarly troubling findings, including failures to provide medication for life-threatening conditions and delays in scheduling necessary surgeries.
The overlap between that September inspection and Anandkumar’s report, issued roughly ten months later, is notable. Both documented slow responses to urgent medical requests and lapses in distributing medication needed to manage conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure and seizure disorders.
CoreCivic spokesperson Ryan Gustin defended the facility’s healthcare operations, saying detainees have daily access to physical and mental health services and that emergency medical care is available around the clock. He said that when specialized treatment is needed beyond what’s available on-site, facility staff work to coordinate care with outside hospitals and physicians — though he noted that scheduling and provider availability are ultimately outside the facility’s control.
Gustin added that compliance with detention standards is monitored by an ICE compliance officer assigned to the facility.
The underlying lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, raises additional concerns beyond medical care. Plaintiffs allege that detainees lack adequate clothing to withstand cold desert nights and that some with mobility impairments have been denied wheelchairs, leaving them unable to bathe or dress themselves without assistance.
Among the plaintiffs is Sokhean Keo, a detainee at the facility, who said in a statement released through the ACLU that he never received medication prescribed to treat an infection.
“If there is no change to this system,” Keo said, “sick people are going to die.”
Original source: CalMatters
