(Inside California Politics) \u2014 Adam Schiff\u2019s tour of California\u2019s largest ICE detention center was \u201cheartbreaking,\u201d the senator told Inside California Politics this week.<\/p>\n
On Tuesday, Schiff and fellow California Democratic Sen. Alex Padilla visited the California City Detention Facility, located in eastern Kern County.<\/p>\n
Schiff said he and Padilla wanted to see what conditions were like in the center, which holds up to 2,500 people. He called the tour thorough, but he recounted the \u201cheartbreak\u201d of meeting detainees \u2014 the vast majority of whom Schiff said had never committed a crime besides being an undocumented immigrant.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have both served constituents who have been detained there \u2014 some who are still detained there,\u201d Schiff said in an interview. \u201cWe\u2019ve been in touch through [legal] counsel to understand what conditions they\u2019re facing, but we wanted to go there and see with our own eyes.\u201d<\/p>\n
A primary concern for Schiff was whether detainees received proper medical treatment.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe heard repeatedly from detainees about their inability to get the medical care that they needed, medical care they were receiving before they were detained,\u201d he said. \u201cSo that\u2019s potentially life-threatening \u2014 a deep concern.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said what detainees told him contradicted reassurances from leaders of the privately-run facility, who said the facility provides proper care.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs bed space has expanded, we have maintained a higher standard of care than most prisons that hold U.S. citizens \u2014 including providing access to proper medical care,\u201d the U.S. Department of Homeland Security told Inside California Politics in a statement. \u201cFor many illegal aliens, this is the best health care they have received in their entire lives.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was not a single detainee who would concur with that statement,\u201d Schiff replied, adding that although he\u2019s unsure the treatment is unconstitutional, he believes it is \u201cundoubtedly cruel.\u201d<\/p>\n
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