Residents of California City and Kern County held an emergency action rally on Tuesday, urging city council members to reject plans for a CoreCivic immigration detention center within the city limits.
The scheduled August 12 meeting was abruptly canceled after the council failed to reach quorum.
During an interview with Kern Sol News, California City Mayor Marquette Hawkins stated that the city has limited authority and oversight over the CoreCivic project, but they will not stop it from moving forward.
When Kern Sol discussed the public backlash with California City Mayor Marquette Hawkins, he emphasized the city’s limited control over the project.
“We have no jurisdictional authority over what CoreCivic does on their own land, in their own building, and with a contract with the federal government,” Hawkins told reporters. “The city is not in the position to stop them from moving forward.”
However, Hawkins stated that he has directly requested that CoreCivic’s board grant him or a designated representative unrestricted access to the facility at any time to ensure that operations remain in order.
“In talking to people in the community, they see a benefit in the jobs that it’s creating, the revenue that it could potentially bring in the city, and again on the flip side, it’s a facility where people are being disappeared on the street and housed in these places,” Hawkins told me.
Rosa Lopez of Kern’s Rapid Response Network said the group has been opposed to the project since earlier this year, when they learned about federal funding for immigration detention expansion.
During the outside action rally, Lopez stated, “We started monitoring across the country of who was going to go after that kind of funding, and CoreCivic was one of the first.”
Lopez stated that the organization worked to bring community members together with city officials to express concerns and remind them that they should represent residents rather than a “billion-dollar corporation whose only interest is profit.”
At a June city council meeting, members of the public were informed that the council could not prevent the facility from opening. Residents, on the other hand, argue that city leaders must enforce local laws, ensure businesses follow regulations, and obtain necessary permits, including environmental clearances.
For months, community members have attended council meetings, urging that the CoreCivic proposal be placed on the public agenda. Many argue that instead of welcoming a private prison corporation, the city should prioritize urgent needs such as water access, healthcare, and other critical resources.
