By Maribel Velazquez
Six people died in centers California immigration detention in the last year, amid the increase in arrests and deportations promoted by Donald Trump’s administration. This is revealed by a state investigation released by CalMatters, which documents overcrowding, medical deficiencies and reports of abuse within facilities operated for the Protect an eye on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Service.
The 175-page report offers one of the most extensive x-rays carried out so far on the conditions in California immigration detention centers. The inspections were carried out by the Department of Justice (DOJ) state between July and November 2025 and included interviews with 194 people from more than 120 countries.
Four of the deaths occurred in the Adelanto ICE Processing Centerin San Bernardino County, while the other two were registered in the Imperial Regional Detention Center, near the border between Mexico and the United States.
Saturated centers and lack of medical care
The report indicates that the accelerated growth of immigration detentions caused a collapse in attention span within the centers.
According to state investigators, the detained population increased more than 150% since the start of Trump’s second term, while many facilities did not increase their medical staff.
One of the most serious cases was documented in California Metropolis, where There was only one doctor for almost a thousand detainees.
Some immigrants reported that They survived on insufficient food, dirty bathrooms, and extremely low temperatures.. Others described prolonged delays in receiving medical or psychological care.
“This is cruel, inhumane and unacceptable”declared California legal prosecutor Rob Bonta.
He Department of Homeland Security (DHS) He rejected the accusations and assured that the centers are regularly monitored to ensure compliance with federal standards.
Allegations of abuse and political pressure
The research also documents harassment complaintshumiliating body searches and the use of pepper spray inside some centers.
In Otay Mesa, San Diego, Detained women said they felt “violated” after being subjected to body searches in front of male agents. The report states that several people stopped receiving family visits to avoid these procedures.
The case of “Loba”, a transgender woman originally from El Salvador, also appears in the report. The immigrant claimed to have suffered harassment and bullying while staying in male dormitories within the California Metropolis facility.
According to CalMatters, California currently has the third largest population detained by ICE in the country, only behind Texas and Louisiana.
Political pressure also increased. Democratic legislators push new laws to tighten supervision of private centers detention and limit their operation within the state.
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