Conditions are absolutely inhumane at California’s largest ICE holding center near Bakersfield, according to South Bay congressional rep Ro Khanna, who just had a visit to the for-profit prison facility being operated with your tax dollars.<\/p>\n
We will begin this post by acknowledging that Silicon Valley congressional representative Ro Khanna is rumored to maybe running for president in 2028<\/a>. This perhaps kind of explains why Khanna is carving himself a lane as one of the biggest advocates for the release of the Epstein files<\/a>, and also chasing TV cameras espouse his support for the proposed California \u201cbillionaire tax.\u201d<\/a> And now Khanna is trying to make a name for himself as a firebrand on another topic, as KTVU reports that Khanna is expressing outrage over conditions at an ICE detention center in Bakersfield<\/a>, which he toured this week. <\/p>\n \u201cThis is the largest detention facility in the state of California. I left with a profound sense of urgency, concern, and moral responsibility. What we witnessed cannot be ignored, excused, or normalized,\u201d Khanna said in a Tuesday Facebook post<\/a>. \u201cAmerica can enforce its laws without abandoning its humanity. What we saw at the California City Detention Center is systemic neglect. A detention-industrial complex that operates without transparency or accountability does not put American values first; it puts profit first.\u201d<\/p>\n The facility is a shuttered state prison, now being run by a private-prison group called CoreCivic. We noted it\u2019s the largest ICE detention center in California, with a current 1,428 detainees. It’s scheduled to eventually have more than 2,500, and Khanna says he spoke with dozens of them. <\/p>\n \u201cThey described being treated like animals, locked in cells for seven hours a day, and fed undercooked beans that frequently contain rocks,\u201d Khanna said on Facebook. \u201cOlder detainees are at heightened risk because they are rarely given fresh fruits or vegetables. We met a lawful permanent resident who lived in the U.S. for 45 years, now detained for an issue from nearly three decades ago.\u201d<\/p>\n There is currently a lawsuit against this facility over the inhumane conditions<\/a>. That, and political pressure from officials like Khanna, may be the only hope for the detainees trapped there, many of them with no criminal records whatsoever<\/a>. \u00a0<\/p>\n