People rally in June 2025 in protest of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Los Angeles. A new report says that inadequate healthcare for those held at the nearby California City Detention Center put people at serious risk. File Photo by Jim Ruymen/UPI | License Photo
July 28 (UPI) -- A new report by a court-appointed monitor says California's largest immigrant detention center places people "at serious risk of both immediate and long-term harm" because of a lack of adequate healthcare.
A federal judge ordered an inquiry into the California City Detention Facility, located in the Mojave Desert, in February after several nonprofits and law firms filed a lawsuit on behalf of plaintiffs claiming inhumane conditions and medical neglect at the facility. The lawsuit alleged that the facility denied cancer treatments, insulin for diabetics and basic disability accommodations, among many other issues, The Guardian reported.
U.S. District Judge Maxine Chesney mandated that the government show it provides "constitutionally adequate" medical care in eight categories at the detention center and appointed Dr. Muthusamy Anandkumar to investigate.
Anandkumar, a physician who used to serve as a medical expert for the Department of Homeland Security, interviewed staff and patients, conducted a three-day site inspection and reviewed patient medical records and files provided by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and CoreCivic, the private prison company that operates the facility, The LA Times reported.
