Senators visit, slam ICE

Padilla and Schiff decry conditions and medical care at the California City immigrant detention site

- BY BRITTNY MEJIA AND RUBEN VIVES

SENS. ALEX Padilla, left, and Adam Schiff said they spoke to about 30 detainees at the site, which holds 1,400.

(MARCIO JOSE SANCHEZ Associated Press)

U.S. Sens. Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff on Tuesday decried the inadequacy of medical care within the state's newest and largest immigration detention center.

The two California Democrats spent hours conducting an oversight visit of the California City Detention Facility amid growing concerns over conditions inside and the Trump administration's desire to increase the number of immigrants detained nationwide.

The two senators said they spoke to about 30 detainees among the 200 men and women who signed up to speak with them. Schiff said there are about 1,400 inmates in the facility.

"I'm leaving here even more concerned than I was when I arrived," Padilla said as the detention facility, surrounded by barbed wire, loomed behind him. "The population here is only going to grow."

Schiff said detainees complained to him and Padilla that the drinking water smells bad and sometimes has mold in it. "We heard from detainees who said there was mold in their food," he said. "Many described getting stomachaches from drinking the water here."

The two senators hope to bring more attention to the Mojave Desert facility as the number of immigrants detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement swells and Congress considers increasing funding to boost detention beds across the country.

After the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good by an ICE agent in Minneapolis this month, some Democrats in the House and Senate threatened to block the funding if the budget failed to include new guardrails against the Department of Homeland Security.