Six people at a remote ICE facility in California City describe medical problems and filthy conditions, which operator CoreCivic denies

Immigrants locked up in California’s newest federal detention center have described the facility as a “a torture chamber”, “a zoo” and “hell on earth”, saying they were confined in filthy cells and suffered medical crises without help.

Six people detained at the California City detention center, which opened in late August and is now the state’s largest Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) detention center, shared accounts with the Guardian of poor conditions and alleged mistreatment by staff.

The detention center is located in a desert region 100 miles (160km) north-east of Los Angeles, on the grounds of a state prison that closed in March 2024. CoreCivic, the private prison corporation, re-opened the facility as an Ice detention center as the Trump administration has pushed to rapidly expand immigration detention capacity. Advocates argued the process was rushed, and city officials said CoreCivic is operating the facility