California Sent Investigators to ICE Facilities

They found more detainees and health care gaps

By Wendy Fry

When reporters asked for records about the cases, citing the California Public Records Act, the sheriff’s department denied their request. It said it did not have to disclose the records because they fall under a carveout in the public records law that protects investigative records — even though the sheriff was not investigating the cases.  

I’ve experienced this lack of transparency firsthand. In 2017, I began reporting for the Los Angeles Times about a rash of deaths and attempted suicides at Adelanto. Detainees I spoke with described harrowing conditions that echo what others are saying today. 

One man told me he saw a fellow detainee hanging from the second floor with a bedsheet around his neck. What I remember most is he was horrified but not surprised.

“I think doing something like that is something that has crossed the mind of all of us who are locked up here,” he said.

A colleague and I requested official records to learn about complaints from detention centers across the state and explain what was being done about them. When the federal government delayed or denied our requests, we asked local police for 911 call logs showing reported incidents at the facilities. 

The logs revealed hundreds of calls about violence or abuse at the centers. 

But most of those listings offered almost no details about what had been reported or what had come of the reports, because local agencies chose to withhold additional records. Over two years, we pushed law enforcement to release enough information to allow us to assess those reports. 

Getting information on a system that affects the lives of thousands of people in our state should not be this difficult. 

Recent stories based on 911 calls in other states make it clear why California should act. In Arizona, reporters obtained audio of a 911 call from an ICE facility revealing that officers had pepper sprayed 47 detainees in an enclosed room. 

In Florida, reporters analyzed 911 calls about Alligator Alcatraz from staff and detainees’ loved ones, revealing confusion and desperation. And at the South Texas Family Residential Center, 911 calls exposed medical emergencies involving young children and pregnant women.

A law requiring disclosure of 911 calls and related records from privately-run detention centers in California would make a meaningful difference. 

The good news is state Sen. Lena Gonzalez, a Democrat from Long Beach, has introduced Senate Bill 423 to do that. The bill includes safeguards to protect legitimate investigative needs and victim privacy, while ensuring the right to know is not limited by local practices or agency discretion. 

The First Amendment Coalition, where I work training journalists on access to public records, co-sponsored the bill, along with the policy advocacy organization Immigrant Defense Advocates. 

For California legislators, this should be an easy call. Detainees should not have to resort to throwing notes over barbed-wire fences, just so the public knows what they are experiencing in our state.