By Brittny Mejia
Staff Writer
July 28, 20263 AM PT
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The largest immigration detention center in California “lacks a reliable system to consistently provide adequate health care, placing individuals at serious risk of both immediate and long-term harm,” according to a report issued this week by a court-appointed monitor
In his report, Dr. Muthusamy Anandkumar, a physician with extensive experience as a medical monitor in immigration detention facilities, state prisons and county jails, cited “a recurring pattern of delayed identification of patient needs, delayed or missed assessments, delayed or inadequate treatment, missed or delayed medication administration, and gaps in follow-up care” at the California City Detention Facility in the Mojave Desert
According to the report, Anandkumar interviewed more than a dozen staff and 40 patients, conducted a three-day site inspection and reviewed 141 patient medical records and thousands of pages of documents produced by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and CoreCivic, the private prison company operating the facility
“This pattern indicates broader problems in the facility’s health care delivery system rather than occasional lapses in care,” Anandkumar said in his report
U.S. District Judge Maxine M. Chesney appointed Anandkumar to ensure compliance with her February order that ICE provide “constitutionally adequate healthcare” at the detention center
Department of Homeland Security must provide ‘constitutionally adequate healthcare’ at ICE detention center, judge rules
A federal judge also required an external monitor be appointed to ensure compliance, including through review of medical records and on-site inspection and interviews with patients and staff at the California City Detention Facility in the Mojave Desert
Feb. 11, 2026
Chesney’s ruling stemmed from a class-action lawsuit filed last year by several advocacy nonprofits and law firms — the Prison Law Office, the American Civil Liberties Union, the California Collaborative for Immigrant Justice and Keker, Van Nest & Peters — which alleged inhumane conditions at the detention center, including inadequate food, water and medical care
Tess Borden, a lawyer with the Prison Law Office, said it was the first time a court had appointed an independent, neutral party to review the full scope of healthcare provided at an ICE detention center
“The system failures that [Anandkumar] points to are not just endemic of the system at California City, but the system of immigration detention nationally,” Borden said
Similar complaints have been raised by detainees at detention centers across the country. Earlier this month, a federal judge ordered the government to immediately overhaul conditions at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center and instructed the immigration agency to provide access to a qualified, independent third-party monitor who would focus on the systems for medical care and disability accommodations
In a statement, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security said, “ICE is regularly audited and inspected by external agencies to ensure that all ICE facilities comply with performance-based national detention standards.”
“All detainees are provided with proper meals, quality water, blankets, medical treatment, and have opportunities to communicate with their family members and lawyers,” the spokesperson said. “ICE has higher detention standards than most U.S. prisons that hold actual U.S. citizens.”
Ryan Gustin, public affairs director for CoreCivic, said in a statement that they are “actively reviewing” Anandkumar’s report
“While we do not generally comment on matters involving active litigation, we can share that nothing matters more to CoreCivic than the health, safety and well-being of the people in our care, and we take seriously our responsibility to respond to questions about our operations with accuracy and transparency,” Gustin said
The former prison turned detention center has faced a growing number of complaints since it opened in August, as the Trump administration pushed to expand detention capacity nationwide
In his report, Anandkumar said staff reported that, when the facility opened, “it was intended to house individuals in good health.”
“In practice, however, the facility received a large volume of patients, including patients with complex medical conditions, and the medical team was not adequately prepared to manage this population,” he said
Anandkumar said the facility “does not appear to have adequate staffing, stable on-site management, sufficient clinical and operational oversight, or an effective quality assurance process to identify and promptly address care-related problems.”
“These elements are necessary to manage the health care needs of this patient population,” he said
Fernando Viera Reyes, a plaintiff in the lawsuit who is currently being held at the detention facility, said in a statement that for months he couldn’t move, sleep or even use the bathroom without being in extreme pain. Despite that, he said, it took five months for California City to get him a biopsy
He has now been diagnosed with metastatic prostate cancer, he said
“By the time I received my official diagnosis, the cancer had spread all over my body. If my ability to get cancer treatment is in the hands of this same staff, I’m scared I’ll be left without the healthcare I need,” he said. “It feels like we’re being treated like we don’t have any value, but we’re all human beings, and we deserve lifesaving treatment just like anyone else.”
