ICE bans hugging inside California’s largest detention center. Families are fighting back
In the California City facility, ‘contact visits’ are strictly forbidden – but detained residents aren’t staying quiet. Are officials listening?
TL;DR
- The California City ICE detention center has banned all contact visits, allowing only non-contact communication through glass or phone calls.
- Families describe the inability to hug loved ones as deeply painful and emotionally damaging.
- Advocates argue the ban is part of a strategy to increase pressure on detainees to accept deportation.
- Detained residents and their families have launched campaigns, including 'Hugs Beyond Bars,' demanding the reinstatement of contact visits.
- A state audit suggested the ban might violate CoreCivic's own policy, which permits contact visits unless there are specific security risks.
- ICE and CoreCivic cite security concerns and contraband prevention as reasons for the visitation policy.
- Some detainees have been deported without having had a physical contact visit with their families since their detention.
- Families are incurring significant costs for phone calls and video chats, impacting already strained finances.