{"id":374706,"date":"2026-06-25T18:13:07","date_gmt":"2026-06-25T18:13:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/374706\/"},"modified":"2026-06-25T18:13:07","modified_gmt":"2026-06-25T18:13:07","slug":"california-could-force-detention-center-emergency-calls-to-be-released","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/374706\/","title":{"rendered":"California could force detention center emergency calls to be released"},"content":{"rendered":"

California officials may have to release 911 call<\/a> records involving incidents at private detention centers, a move one organization said was \u201curgently needed\u201d as recent reports raise concerns about what\u2019s occurring at immigration detention centers across the state.<\/p>\n

The bill would require the release of records related to 911 calls or other calls for service, ensuring \u201cthe public\u2019s right to know the frequency and substance of complaints and calls for assistance made by or on behalf of vulnerable individuals held in private detention facilities,\u201d according to the office of state Sen. Lena Gonzalez, who introduced the bill, and the bill\u2019s text.<\/p>\n

Among what Gonzalez\u2019s office points out in the bill\u2019s justification is an article from CalMatters published earlier this year about reported sexual assaults at a private immigration detention center in California; The news organization said in its report that they tried to get additional records, such as audio recordings of 911 calls and a full dispatch log, but law enforcement refused to release such records.<\/p>\n

California already has laws in place regarding which public records are available and what information doesn\u2019t have to be released. A story from the San Bernardino Sun<\/a> published earlier this year about the number of 911 calls at an immigration detention center said its data came from an analysis of law enforcement\u2019s call logs obtained through a California Public Records Act request.<\/p>\n

New aerial photos of ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ immigration detention center and detainees in Miami<\/p>\n

1 of 14<\/p>\n

Correction: An earlier version of this gallery identified the detainees as being housed “Alligator Alcatraz.” They are in a detention facility in Miami. The captions and headline have been updated to reflect this.
In an aerial view from a helicopter, the migrant detention center, dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz,” is seen located at the site of the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport on July 4, 2025 in Ochopee, Fla. President Donald Trump was present at the opening of the 5,000-bed facility, located at an abandoned airfield in the Everglades wetlands, as part of his expansion of undocumented migrant deportations.<\/p>\n

(Alon Skuy, Getty Images)<\/p>\n

However, the bill is \u201cimportant to give clarity on what local government agencies are required to turn over to the public,\u201d First Amendment Coalition Advocacy Director Ginny LaRoe said in an email to the USA TODAY Network. The organization is a co-sponsor of the bill.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe public\u2019s right to know should not depend on inconsistent local practices or discretionary withholding,\u201d according to the organization\u2019s letter of support. \u201cWhen a private detention facility generates emergency calls to local agencies, those records should be accessible to the public, subject to appropriate safeguards.”<\/p>\n

In May, California Attorney General Rob Bonta said conditions were worsening<\/a> at immigration detention facilities in the state \u2014 with detainees facing \u201cpoor access to clean drinking water\u201d or having issues with receiving timely medical treatment \u2014 in the unveiling of the California Department of Justice\u2019s fifth report examining facilities holding people detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.<\/p>\n

Also in the news: A reported hunger strike at an immigration detention center in Southern California in protest of \u201cinhumane conditions,\u201d according to the Victorville Daily Press<\/a>, which is part of the USA TODAY Network.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis bill shines a necessary light into California\u2019s for-profit detention facilities by giving the public access to complaints, emergency calls, and reports of harm that too often remain hidden,\u201d said Jackie Gonzalez, co-executive director of Immigrant Defense Advocates \u2014 a bill co-sponsor \u2014 in a statement.<\/p>\n

Paris Barraza is a reporter covering Los Angeles and Southern California for the USA TODAY Network. Reach her at\u00a0pbarraza@usatodayco.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 911 calls involving California detention centers targeted in new bill<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"California officials may have to release 911 call records involving incidents at private detention centers, a move one…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":374707,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[35942,7,9,8,47078,86379,120349,151863,151862,76900,151864,27479],"class_list":["post-374706","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-california","tag-911-calls","tag-california","tag-california-headlines","tag-california-news","tag-california-public-records-act","tag-detention-centers","tag-detention-facilities","tag-immigration-detention-center","tag-immigration-detention-centers","tag-lena-gonzalez","tag-private-detention-facilities","tag-public-records"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/374706","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=374706"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/374706\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/374707"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=374706"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=374706"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=374706"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}