The Brief

Three of the four California counties empowered to inspect federal immigration detention facilities have not done so, and the fourth has conducted only basic reviews of food this year, records obtained by CalMatters show.

If they were checking, local officials would be providing an additional layer of oversight at a time when the number of people held in detention centers has surged because of the Trump administration’s crackdown on unauthorized immigrants.

Two state laws provide state, county and local officials the authority to review health and safety conditions in privately-run immigration detention facilities.

The first, passed during the first Trump administration, allows the attorney general’s office to inspect for violations of national detention standards and health or safety issues. The AG’s office has used that power to publish annual reports on conditions inside detention centers, including one this year that alleged deficient mental health care.

The second, a 2024 law, empowers counties to inspect privately run detention facilities. In the past, counties have inspected jails and prisons, finding mold, rats, and other health violations. But county health officials have not used that power to inspect federal immigration detention facilities.

In Kern County — where three detention centers operate — the health officer, through an attorney, has said in testimony before a federal judge that he has “no intention” of exercising his new authority to inspect the facilities to ensure they comply with state and local health standards.

The companies that manage the detention centers through contracts with the federal government say they take seriously their responsibility to adhere to federal standards and uphold human rights. One unsuccessfully sued to overturn the new California inspection law, alleging it was unnecessary and an intrusion on the federal government’s authority.

More than 5,700 people are in immigration detention in California, an 84% increase since the spring. On April 16, there were 3,100 people detained in the state, according to the California Attorney General’s latest report.

Advocates for detainees are drawing attention to what they describe as unhealthy conditions, including in the state’s newest detention center. It opened in Kern County without proper permits or a business license as required by state law, according to California City’s mayor.

CoreCivic’s 2,560-bed immigration detention center there sits on 70 acres in the Mohave desert about 80 miles east of Bakersfield.

A detainee who goes by the name of Loba has been locked up in the California City facility since Aug. 28. She said some detainees have not received the medication they need for more than 20 days. She asked CalMatters not to fully identify her because she feared retaliation by CoreCivic guards for speaking with a reporter.

“There’s a lack of interest on the part of CoreCivic to care for individuals with diabetes problems and people who have heart problems or any other health conditions. They’re really not caring for detainees and not giving us the proper medical treatment in detention,” Loba said.

She said she observed five people who needed emergency care because they could not get medication. Another California City detainee described similar conditions in an interview with CalMatters.

Ryan Gustin, a spokesperson for CoreCivic, said the site has robust medical and mental health care on site, including around-the-clock access to those services. He said those services adhere to “standards set forth by our government partners.”

“There are no delays in individuals getting their prescription medications,” Gustin said.

Counties reviewing inspection law

In the four counties where Immigration and Customs Enforcement has detention facilities, only one county health department conducts the kind of inspections allowed under the 2024 law. A San Bernardino County spokesperson said the county has the authority to inspect for disease control and “general health and sanitation,” but he later said the reviews are limited to the facilities’ food processing and service.

Officials from two other counties said they’ll use their new authority to respond to specific concerns, but that they had not yet done any inspections.

The Imperial County health department said it would respond to a complaint “if the facility falls within our legal authority to inspect.” The San Diego County health department said only that it “is exploring how to effectively operationalize this law in its jurisdiction.”

California has seven immigration detention centers: Adelanto ICE Processing Center and Desert View Annex in San Bernardino County; The Golden State Annex, Mesa Verde ICE Processing facility, and the California City detention facility in Kern County; The Imperial Regional Detention Facility in Imperial County; and the Otay Mesa Detention Center in San Diego County.

ICE pays the for-profit prison company GEO Group to operate four of the centers: Adelanto, Desert View Annex, Golden State Annex and Mesa Verde ICE Processing Center.

MTC manages the detention center in Imperial County, while CoreCivic manages Otay Mesa and California City.

The 2024 law gives local health officials the authority to inspect private detention facilities as they deem necessary, but it does not require them to do so unless requested by local lawmakers or law enforcement. And it does not specify exactly what county health inspectors should check, despite lawmakers and cosponsors of the bill citing “detainees facing challenges in accessing timely medical attention” as one of the reasons the new law was necessary.

As the bill moved forward, lawmakers also cited a May 2020 COVID-19 outbreak at the Otay Mesa Detention Center that resulted in more than 300 staff and detained individuals becoming infected. “Conditions in these facilities not only affect the lives of those detained, but also impact the surrounding communities,” wrote the bill’s author, state Sen. María Elena Durazo, a Democrat from Los Angeles.

It passed without any recorded opposition and with unanimous votes in the Legislature.

GEO Group sued to challenge the law, arguing it was unconstitutional because it stepped on the federal government’s authority to manage detention centers. By extension, GEO claimed intergovernmental immunity as a contractor.

“This case involves the latest in a string of attempts by the State of California to ban federal immigration enforcement in the state, or so significantly burden such efforts as to drive federal agencies and contractors involved in that constitutionally-mandated national security function from California,” GEO attorneys argued in the suit, which was filed in the U.S District Court for the Eastern District of California.

In federal court this year, Kern County attorney Jeremy McNutt said county health officer Kristopher Lyon doesn’t want to use the new law to inspect the Mesa Verde and Golden State Annex facilities in his county. McNutt said Lyon would inspect the facility if the governor ordered him to, but otherwise, he “has no intention of inspecting the facility whatsoever.”

“If he’s not ordered to do it then he has no intention of doing it, doesn’t really care to have the right to do it or not,” McNutt said of Lyon. “We don’t believe he has a duty to inspect the facility … There is no commitment or desire to inspect.”

A federal judge threw out the lawsuit in May, letting the law stay in place. Lyon did not respond to a request for comment about whether his position has changed in light of an influx of new detainees and the opening of a new detention center.

Detainees gather in a common area at one of the Adelanto ICE Processing Center housing units in Adelanto on Aug. 28, 2019.

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Adelanto cleared county review

In the only county making use of its powers to access the detention centers, a San Bernardino County inspector spent about an hour on May 29 at the Adelanto center for food and service issues. The facility passed, according to inspection reports.

San Bernardino County inspector Mary Ann Glass made no notes or comments, and she found no deficiencies or violations at the facility, the paperwork shows.

“Yes, our inspections are limited to food processing and service,” confirmed San Bernardino health department spokesperson Francis Delapaz.

Adelanto is where a 39-year-old detainee was being held shortly before his death in September.

Internal emails obtained by the Los Angeles Times show that about two weeks after arriving at Adelanto in August, Ismael Ayala-Uribe reported symptoms including a cough, fever, and severe pain. Staff flagged his condition as potentially life-threatening and last week escorted him to the facility’s medical center in a wheelchair, the newspaper reported. About an hour and a half later, medical staff sent him back to his dormitory. He was not sent to a hospital until three days later, where he died.

Adelanto detainees, who spoke with CalMatters on condition that they not be named because they fear retaliation, said the sites are crowded, and it’s taking a long time to access medications and medical care.

An immigrant who was arrested in an ICE raid in Los Angeles in June and spent more than a month at Adelanto, said it took three days for him to be assigned a bed when he arrived at the facility.

During that time, he wasn’t allowed a shower or a change of clothes and wasn’t permitted to call his family. He said the dorm he ultimately slept in doubled in population, to its full capacity of about 90 people. Staff, he said, asked for volunteers to keep the walkways and windows clean, and detainees waited longer than three days to hear back about medical requests.

“Everyone was getting sick with coughs, the flu, with the air being cold all day,” he said. “Almost 50% of the people were like that.”

A Geo Group spokesperson said the company provides around-the-clock access to medical care.

“Geo strongly rejects these baseless allegations,” spokesman Christopher Ferreira said in an email to CalMatters. “Our contracts also set strict limits on a facility’s capacity. Simply put, our facilities are never overcrowded.”

California tried to ban for-profit detention

The federal government’s own inspections indicate allegations of abuse and possible lapses in suicide prevention at the Adelanto facility. In 2024, the Office of Detention Oversight found one detainee who alleged an officer inappropriately squeezed his chest and genitals during a pat-down search, and another told inspectors he had thoughts of self-harming because of the poor conditions inside the facility.

State inspectors released a report in April that documented similar issues with conditions across the state. Staffing shortages, poor coordination between medical and mental health care providers, and widespread problems with record-keeping contributed to the risks for detainees, the report stated.

Attorney General Rob Bonta acknowledged that state and local oversight over detention facilities is limited, particularly after the state in 2019 attempted to ban private for-profit facilities, a bill Bonta authored as a legislator. The 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals found the law unconstitutional.

Legislators "thought the conditions and practices inside these detention centers were so bad that they should be completely prohibited. And unfortunately, that was struck down,” Bonta told CalMatters.

“Because these are federal detention centers, there is a limit on what I can do, what the California legislature can do. The authority rests more with the federal government, particularly Congress,” he said.

This article was originally published on CalMatters and was republished under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives license.

L.A. County health officials Wednesday confirmed the county's seventh measles case this year — a traveler who passed through Hollywood Burbank Airport on the morning of June 17.

They're warning people who may have come in contact with the person of possible exposure to the highly contagious virus.

What you should know: Public health officials say the infected traveler arrived on Southwest Airlines Flight 4245 Gate A4 on June 17 at the Hollywood Burbank Airport. Anyone who was at that gate between 8:45 to 9:45 a.m. may have been exposed.

Officials also noted that people who were at the Thrifty Rental Car Service on June 17 from 9:20 to 10:20 a.m. and on June 18 from 10:25 to 11:25 a.m. may have been exposed. That's located at 2627 N. Hollywood Way in Burbank.

What if I was on the flight? Public health officials say passengers sitting next to the traveler will be notified by local health departments and should monitor for symptoms. Keep in mind those symptoms could appear up to three weeks after you were exposed.

Symptoms to look out for: Common symptoms include runny nose, fever cough, or a rash. It's also important if you develop these symptoms, don't just walk into a health care center without calling ahead first.

For people exposed on June 17, the last day to monitor for symptoms is July 8. For those exposed on June 18, the last day to monitor for symptoms is July 19.

How can I protect myself?: It's important to check if you are vaccinated against the measles. As health officials noted in the news release reporting the latest case: "The most effective way to protect yourself and your family is with the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine."

The Los Angeles Unified Board voted unanimously to appoint Andres Chait, a longtime district administrator, as superintendent days after his predecessor resigned.

 “This board's decision reflects the confidence in Mr. Chait's leadership, his decades of service to Los Angeles Unified, and his demonstrated ability to guide the district during this period of transition,” said board President Scott Schmerelson.

The board met privately to discuss the district’s top job three days after Alberto Carvalho resigned. Carvalho wrote in a letter that he was leaving “because I believe our schools must remain focused on students and learning without distraction.”

The board placed Carvalho on paid administrative leave following FBI searches of his home and district office in February and appointed Chait acting superintendent. Carvalho has not been charged with a crime and has maintained his innocence.

Who is Andres Chait?

Chait rose through the ranks from teacher to administrator at LAUSD over nearly three decades. The responsibilities of his most recent role, chief of school operations, included overseeing school safety, athletics and the district’s office of emergency management.

Chait thanked the board, the community and his family after the announcement Wednesday and reflected on his first day as a kindergarten teacher 30 years ago. “ I was probably more nervous than the kids were, but I knew then that this was a place where I could make a positive difference in the lives of students and families,” Chait said. “I've always known that there is no greater accelerator of change and opportunity than the schoolhouse, and that is still true today.”

What is the superintendent responsible for?

LAUSD is the country’s second-largest school district, employs 83,000 people and enrolls more than 400,000 students across more than 1,000 schools. Despite recent gains in student test scores, the majority of students are not proficient in reading and math skills for their grade level. The district also faces looming financial challenges from declining enrollment — which is tied to state funding — and federal investigations into programs designed to help underserved students succeed.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

A former state parks superintendent who oversaw Orange County beaches was charged Wednesday with secretly filming naked male lifeguards and other workers inside the locker room at Bolsa Chica State Beach. The former superintendent, Kevin Pearsall, is also accused of sending some of the images to two other men.

What charges does he face?

Pearsall, 59, of Long Beach, faces five felony counts of eavesdropping, 23 misdemeanor counts of secretly filming another and three misdemeanor counts of unlawful dissemination of private recordings. If convicted on all charges, he faces a maximum sentence of 18 years and eight months behind bars.

Scott C. Thomas, a defense attorney representing Pearsall, declined to comment in the wake of the charges being announced by the Orange County District Attorney's office. Pearsall is scheduled to be arraigned Aug. 6 and could enter a plea at that time.

Details of the investigation

In July 2025, a California State Parks officer discovered a USB stick with a hidden camera in the men's locker room at Bolsa Chica State Beach Lifeguard Headquarters. The officer contacted California Highway Patrol, which launched an investigation.

The investigation found Pearsall allegedly had recorded numerous secret videos in the locker room over an 11-month period beginning in August 2024, according to the DA's announcement. Pearsall retired from his job shortly after CHP served search warrants in the case. He turned himself in earlier this week.

State Parks reaction

Marty Greenstein, a spokesperson for California State Parks, told LAist the agency “takes these charges very seriously and has fully cooperated with law enforcement through every step of the investigation.” Greenstein declined to comment further, citing the active criminal investigation.

Making your way through South Coast Plaza — the sleek consumer cathedral in Costa Mesa, a sort of mall of malls — past Uniqlo window displays and Pop Mart blind boxes, there's a good chance you'll eventually land at Tiny's, the new casual restaurant from Chef Sang Yoon.

The burger shack-meets-Asian convenience store is the latest from Yoon, best known for Father's Office, the Los Angeles institution where he's spent two decades running one of the city's most uncompromising kitchens — no substitutions, no exceptions.

Tiny’s marks Yoon’s first venture into Orange County — a deliberately accessible entry point for a chef who has spent decades at the top of L.A.'s gastropub scene.

The concept

Tiny's is the place Yoon wanted to exist as a kid.

Inside, you're greeted by shelves stocked in the style of a konbini, the beloved Japanese convenience corner store, with cilantro-flavored Doritos from China, elote-flavored Turtle Chips from Korea and, for the purists, the requisite Japanese Kit-Kats and Pocky too.

At the counter, a friendly employee greets you beneath a letterboard menu anchored by Yoon’s signature 30-day dry-aged beef burger. Starting at $9 for a plain burger, up to $12 for the Tokyo Dog dressed in bonito flakes and furikake, there's also salt and vinegar tots, french fries, miso mac 'n' cheese and soft serve that runs from Straus vanilla to Pineapple Dole Whip, available as a swirl, cup, cone or float. That's the menu, streamlined by design.

Chef Sang Yoon's cheeseburger and Tokyo Dog at Tiny's, his new fast-casual concept inside South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa

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Courtesy Tiny's Burger

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For Yoon, the son of Korean immigrants who grew up between two worlds, the idea of opening a burger stand with a konbini was about tapping into the happy place of his memories: after school with friends, trying out the latest snacks to hit the market to Friday nights with the entire family celebrating after a long week of grinding it out with burgers and chili fries.

"The corner burger stand is where life happened. ... What if those two of my favorite things were under one roof?" said Yoon.

Tiny the dog

Inspiration for the name Tiny’s came from a somewhat unlikely place: Yoon’s beloved Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. Yoon describes her as appearing extremely cute and friendly, but in reality, she was actually sassy and judgmental. Illustrations bearing Tiny’s "don't mess with me" vibe can be seen throughout the restaurant.

“People would rather hear this from a sassy, cute dog than me. So I decided that we should channel Tiny. And let this belong to her," Yoon said.

The food

The cheeseburger itself is simple: a thin patty topped with melted American cheese and Tiny's signature sauce — a blend of Kewpie mayo, caramelized gochujang, ssamjang and tomato — finished with pickle chips and a bed of lettuce.

What sets it apart is what you can’t see, the same 30-day dry-aged chuck Yoon has used at Father’s Office for over 25 years.

“I still don’t think there’s any product superior to that for the purpose of a hamburger,” he said.

The spread at Tiny's includes the cheeseburger, miso mac 'n' cheese, chicken nuggets, tater tots, fries and a jammy egg sando — a konbini staple in Japan.

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Courtesy Tiny's Burger

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The nuggets ($10) had a crispy, craggy exterior finished with visible seasoning crystals, a small but deliberate touch, and came with a fresh herbaceous dipping sauce. As for the chili fries ($8), the chili itself was sufficient as an L.A.-style chili (think Tommy's), but since Lao Gan Ma chili crisp was promised in the name, I was expecting that distinctive, crunchy, fermented kick — but left wanting more of it. It felt more like a whisper than a statement.

The miso mac 'n' cheese ($6) was a highlight of the meal, especially for someone who doesn't usually order mac 'n' cheese. Fresh ridged elbow pasta with a proper chew in each bite, and salty morsels of miso folded into a tight cheese sauce had me picking up forkfuls until it was mostly gone. Consider my position reconsidered.

Encouraged, I went back and ordered a Dole Whip ($7). The electric, tangy flavor, paired with the soft creaminess, served as a suitable exclamation point for my lunch that day.

With Tiny's, Yoon has built his most personal restaurant — accessible in price, but uncompromising in intention.

Could mall food now be on a new trajectory? Perhaps we've finally transcended corn dogs at Hot Dog on a Stick and cinnamon rolls at Cinnabon.

After dining at Tiny’s, all signs point to yes.