California Sen. Alex Padilla made a surprise visit Thursday to a federal immigration detention center in Sacramento to inspect conditions and seek answers about Tuesday’s collision involving an ICE agent and an observer in Woodland.
“I want to see the condition of the people, the activity level, whether (ICE) will allow access,” Padilla told the Sacramento Bee on Thursday, as he waited to enter the John E. Moss Federal Building on Capitol Mall and a line of people formed in a steady drizzle. “Families have told us about the level of activity in different facilities. We constantly compare with Chamber members who do the same.”
The unannounced morning inspection of the ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations detention center was at least the fourth visit to an immigration detention center for the senator, a fierce critic of the Trump administration’s immigration policies and the tactics of ICE agents.
Padilla was forcibly removed and briefly detained by federal agents after confronting then-Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem with questions during a June 2025 news conference about local immigration enforcement in his native Los Angeles, as a wave of federal enforcement was peaking in the city.
Padilla told reporters Thursday that he and his team were trying to visit “a lot of different ICE facilities,” including the one in Sacramento. The senator waited with staff and a Bee reporter in the lobby before being escorted alone shortly after 8 a.m. to the center, down a long hallway, and closed to the public.
Four people were being held at the center on Thursday, he told reporters after his roughly half-hour visit. Up to 12 people can be detained at the facility at any one time. The Sacramento facility was not designed as a traditional detention center, he said.
“I want to see myself,” he told reporters. “It’s important to ask basic questions. Do they have access to a lawyer?”
“I’ve seen better and I’ve seen worse,” Padilla told The Bee. “It’s clear that this is an old building that is not designed for this purpose. It’s not a detention center, it’s a detention center.”
Thursday’s visit came amid a surge in immigration and customs enforcement operations in California and the Sacramento region. The latest flashpoint occurred in Woodland, where an ICE agent’s vehicle collided with an observer during an operation Tuesday, drawing condemnation from local leaders and Padilla, as well as an investigation by Woodland police.
Federal ICE officials denied Wednesday that the vehicle struck the observer, saying in a statement that the man jumped on the hood of the vehicle to stage a collision. Woodland police disputed the federal agency’s account, calling it “inconsistent” with video of the collision.
Padilla said Thursday that he and his team continue to closely monitor increased ICE activity in the Sacramento area, including the Woodland collision and recent reports of ICE agents gathering in the parking lot of a Yuba City veterans hall being used as a voting location, a presence confirmed by his office.
“If this was just about immigration control, it would be troubling,” Padilla told The Bee. “Politically, I’m not at all shocked that they’re trying to ramp up their efforts before an election to sow more fear and terror in various communities. »
Padilla also spoke briefly with Giselle Garcia of the immigrant rights group NorCal Resist, which along with Padilla’s office monitors ICE activity in the region and conditions in detention centers, including the one in Sacramento.
“I admire and appreciate their commitment to this work,” Padilla said. “They are the eyes and ears on the ground for people who cannot afford the services of a lawyer or for migrants who cannot defend themselves. »
This story was originally published October 22, 2026 at 12:01 p.m..
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Darrell Smith
The Sacramento Bee
Darrell Smith is a local reporter for The Sacramento Bee. He joined The Bee in 2006 and previously worked at newspapers in Palm Springs, Colorado Springs and Marysville. Smith was born and raised at Beale Air Force Base and lives in Elk Grove.
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