The push comes as the eight privately run immigration detention centers in California, with a combined capacity of nearly 10,000 beds, have seen their populations surge. The average daily population rose 72%<\/a> \u2014 from about 3,100 people in April 2025 to 5,300 this April \u2014 as federal immigration enforcement expanded under the Trump administration.<\/p>\n Experts say that as populations grow, conditions have worsened.<\/p>\n State Justice Department inspectors have found<\/a> inadequate medical care, delays in treatment, overcrowded rooms and meager food portions in facilities. They have also documented excessive use of force by guards and allegations of sexual assault that have gone unchecked.<\/p>\n Between September 2025 and March 2026, six people died<\/a> at two private detention facilities in California, Adelanto ICE Processing Center and Imperial Regional Detention Facility in Calexico.<\/p>\n A CalMatters investigation<\/a> published in March found that numerous sexual assault reports last year at the Otay Mesa Detention Center in San Diego went without any proper investigation by local authorities.<\/p>\n When reporters sought records \u2014 including audio of 911 calls routed to the sheriff\u2019s office \u2014 the San Diego County Sheriff\u2019s Department refused, citing a law enforcement exemption in existing public records law.<\/p>\n Gonzalez believes this will close that gap. Under Senate Bill 423, any call for service would have to be disclosed. The bill includes privacy safeguards: identifying information for crime victims would be protected, and agencies could withhold information if its release would interfere with an active investigation.<\/p>\n The spirit of the legislation, Gonzalez said, is to address the difficulty of accessing the recordings specifically at federal immigration detention centers, which are run by for-profit companies and don\u2019t follow rules set by California\u2019s Public Records Act. The private contractors can and do refuse to release internal incident reports, emergency call logs or security records.<\/p>\n For those trying to build a case or prove instances of abuse in a facility, a recorded call might be the only glimpse into a facility\u2019s operations or way of verifying horrors described by detainees.<\/p>\n \u201cThese are in-the-moment recordings of what is happening at the detention facility,\u201d said Eunice Cho, senior staff attorney at the ACLU National Prison Project. \u201cThe dispatcher is often asking for critical facts and information about what is happening, and the person on the call is giving their best impression of what exactly is happening at the time of the emergency.\u201d<\/p>\n Sometimes calls are placed by facility staff seeking an ambulance \u2014 these facilities often lack the medical capacity to treat detainees \u2014 or reporting misconduct by their coworkers, Cho said.<\/p>\n Without passage of bills like this, Cho said, it will only become more difficult to build cases and prove these conditions exist.<\/p>\n Since last January, the federal government has shut down several programs<\/a> meant to safeguard detainees, such as those informing them of their rights. They have closed oversight offices and eliminated protections for transgender detainees. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has also said it will no longer report the deaths of those recently released from custody, even if their time in detention may have led to it.<\/p>\n Elected officials, once able to make unannounced visits<\/a> to detention facilities, now must give advanced notice<\/a> and may be barred from talking with detainees.<\/p>\n Gonzalez, who chairs the state\u2019s Latino caucus, said she and other members requested a visit to the Adelanto ICE facility. They await confirmation.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/ap25234181621717-445448-frthfpb6-624064-g5LvC41i-1024x683.jpg\")
State Sen. Lena Gonzalez and Senate President Pro Tempore Mike McGuire listen as lawmakers debate a package of measures to redraw the state\u2019s Congressional districts and put new maps before voters in a special election, at the Capitol in Sacramento, Calif., Thursday, Aug. 21, 2025. AP Photo by Rich Pedroncelli.<\/p>\n