Families Launch Campaign Against ICE Contact-Visit Ban at 1,600-Bed California City Detention Center
Updated
Updated · The Guardian · Sep 4
Families Launch Campaign Against ICE Contact-Visit Ban at 1,600-Bed California City Detention Center
3 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Sep 4
Summary
California City detainees, relatives and advocates have launched the “Hugs Beyond Bars” campaign, pressing ICE and CoreCivic to restore in-person contact visits at the 1,600-person facility after a year of glass-separated meetings only.
300-mile trips still end without a hug because the center has barred all contact visits since opening in August 2025, while CoreCivic says non-contact rules are needed to prevent contraband and address security concerns.
21-cent-a-minute video calls have become the fallback for families such as Allen Tayson’s, leaving his pregnant wife and children without physical contact during months of detention and adding costs for households already under strain.
Four of the 10 largest ICE detention centers now fully ban contact visits, advocates say, describing a broader shift toward prison-like conditions that can deepen isolation and pressure detainees to accept deportation.
A spring California justice department audit said California City’s no-contact policy appeared to conflict with CoreCivic’s own rules allowing physical contact except for security risks, but the warden and company have not changed course.