Strip searches at one facility, ‘extreme cold’ at another: Inside Trump’s latest deportation push

Mariana walked into an immigration office in Fresno, California, convinced she was attending an appointment to move forward with her legalization process. But it was a trap. Agents from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested the Mexican woman there and, hours later, transferred her to the California City Detention Center, a facility she says left her with both physical and psychological scars.

“I still haven’t shaken that feeling of fear, because that’s what it is: a jail,” she says through tears. The worst part, she recalls, were the freezing cells. “It’s a cold you can’t imagine, unbearable.”

The frigid conditions at California City are part of the Trump administration’s latest effort to ensure its mass-deportation agenda is not hindered by California’s sanctuary policies. Its other major investment is located near the Mexican border: the Otay Mesa Detention Center in San Diego. Both facilities were purchased from private prison operator CoreCivic for $1.5 billion in a deal completed on July 2.

“Unlike states such as Florida and Oklahoma, ICE cannot rely on local partners, whether state or county, to secure detention space in California,” the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said in a written statement sent to EL PAÍS. “Now, by holding federal ownership of these detention centers, which are central to ICE’s detention network on the West Coast, the agency has the capacity needed to arrest, detain and remove undocumented immigrants.”

CoreCivic employees will continue operating both facilities until their respective contracts expire: August 2027 for California City and December 2029 for Otay Mesa. Both agreements include options to extend operations for up to five additional years, the company said in a statement.

In addition to this investment in California, ICE plans to open four new detention centers in Seattle, Philadelphia, Miami and Denver, with capacity for about 5,500 people, according to procurement documents cited by NBC News.

Strip searches

What the DHS has purchased in California through its record budget, which allocates $45 billion to expand detention capacity through 2029, are two facilities with a long history of complaints over the treatment of detainees, which some have described as degrading.

At the Otay Mesa detention center, for example, a controversial policy is in place that is unique within ICE’s detention network. It requires detainees to undergo strip searches after every non-legal visit involving physical contact. The rule applies equally to men and women.

“Female detainees described having to fully undress in front of officers, in some cases including male officers, even when menstruating,” notes a recent report by state inspectors. Those interviewed said they felt “violated” and described the experience as “humiliating.”

The problems at Otay Mesa go beyond strip-search policies. A report by California’s Department of Justice warns of overcrowding, a problem exacerbated by the immigration enforcement operations that have intensified across Southern California since last summer.

According to the report, overcrowding has worsened detention conditions. The few toilets available are often dirty, and some detainees are forced to sleep on cots placed on the floor because there are not enough beds. Detainees have also complained about poor-quality food and small meal portions, which forces them to supplement their diets by purchasing food from the facility’s commissary.

The detention center opened in 2015 and was expanded in 2021. It has capacity for 1,970 detainees and, because of its proximity to the Tijuana border crossing, typically receives migrants apprehended by Border Patrol while attempting to enter the United States irregularly through that sector. The contract between ICE and CoreCivic includes a minimum-guarantee clause that ensures the company is paid for 750 beds whether they are occupied or not. Since immigration raids intensified, the facility has become one of the most crowded detention centers in California. In October 2025, it held 1,433 detainees. DHS acquired the facility for $739 million.

Abuse

California City was a state prison before being converted into a detention center for immigrants in ICE custody. The change came under a $130 million contract. In August 2025, during its first two weeks of operations, it received more than 500 detainees. It has capacity for up to 2,560 people. According to California authorities, the center was opened hastily, a decision that led to deficiencies that continue to affect those held there. DHS now owns the facility after paying $732 million for it.

“The facility opened prematurely and was not ready to accept detainees. Cal City was inadequately staffed, including detention staff and healthcare staff,” states the California Department of Justice report.

The report adds that the lack of preparation not only hampered operations but also prevented migrants from having contact visits, which “negatively impacts detainees’ ability to maintain normal parenting or other familial relationships.”

Detainees told state inspectors that California City had kept up practices from its days as a prison housing high-risk inmates. According to their accounts, guards frequently shouted at them and kept them confined to their cells for extended periods during population counts, a practice commonly used in prisons to prevent escapes.

Those shortcomings are compounded by complaints from detainees who reported enduring “extremely cold temperatures and leaks during the rainy season,” according to the state report.

Despite having been in operation for only a short time, the facility is already facing two lawsuits. One of them, filed in November 2025 on behalf of five detainees, alleges unsanitary conditions, deteriorating infrastructure, the use of solitary confinement, excessive disciplinary measures, inadequate medical care and restrictions on family visits.

“They only gave me water”

Mariana spent a month at California City before being released a few days ago. She agreed to speak with EL PAÍS on the condition that her identity be protected. With sadness, she recalls that medical care was virtually nonexistent for the nearly 90 women who shared her housing unit.

There, she says, her gastrointestinal problems worsened because of the poor food, causing severe stomach pain.

“I went to an officer to ask for a pill. I said, ‘I can’t even breathe.’ He answered: ‘Fill out a form and maybe in three days they’ll come to see you.’” The woman returned to her cell without help. Another migrant gave her an analgesic she had bought with her own money. “That girl saved me,” she says.

Mariana remembers other episodes in which detainees had to help one another. Like the day a woman lost consciousness for unknown reasons. “We revived her by throwing water on her,” she recounts. On another occasion, a pregnant migrant, detained by ICE agents in Hawaii, began bleeding from the nose and had a panic attack. When medical staff finally treated her, and she returned to the dorm, she told them: “They only gave me water.”

After the episode that left her doubled over in pain, Mariana spent the rest of her time at California City eating as little as possible to avoid getting sick again. “There is nothing there, nothing, nothing, not even rubbing alcohol,” she says. “If there’s an emergency, there’s nothing to help those women.”

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