Immigrant rights activists want FCI Dublin to be demolished

DUBLIN, Calif. - Although operations ceased at FCI Dublin two years ago, the Bureau of Prisons is proposing to permanently deactivate the aging prison – but that's not enough for immigrant rights activists; they want the entire facility torn down and repurposed in a positive way. 

‘Not livable’ 

What they're saying:

"This is not livable for anyone," said Aimee Chavira, who was formerly incarcerated at FCI Dublin. "Make it a Costco. But it's not livable. We need to demolish it." 

Immigrant rights advocates from the ICE out of Dublin Coalition held a news conference on Tuesday, suggesting that the 87 acres of property at 5701 8th Street become a park, library, community center, or hospital, which could include a monument to the women who once lived there. 

And they urged members of the public to email the BOP their comments by the 30-day deadline of June 1 at bop-adm-facilities-s@bop.gov. 

The BOP will then consider all the public feedback and decide whether to move forward with its proposed action of disposing of the property. There is no vote. And there is no timeline for transferring the property to the U.S. General Services Administration, which then has its own process for considering what to do. 

The activists said they fear that the GSA could very likely hand the property to the Department of Homeland Security or the Department of Defense. 

Aging, out-of-date

What we know:

The BOP's environmental assessment released on May 1 details many problems many of the 600 women incarcerated there had complained about – including breathing in mold and asbestos and being inundated in goose poop. 

And for the first time, the BOP put a price tag on how much it would cost to repair and modernize the out-of-date structures: Roughly $26 million over three years and about $118 million over 10 years.

The BOP shuttered the prison in 2024 after the former director said she couldn't change the sexualized culture at FCI Dublin. 

Last week, the ninth guard there was sentenced to prison for sexually assaulting an incarcerated woman. All the women living at the prison have since been released or transferred to other prisons around the country. 

And while many of the complaints from the women living inside the prison have been verbally documented, the 2,731-page report officially puts their observations into words.

Some of those formal findings include: 

• Interior conditions vary from functional to severely deteriorated. Drywall and stud-framed buildings pose a fire hazard.
• The roofs are in "moderate to severely deteriorated" condition, with widespread drainage issues leading to significant leaks.
• Ground squirrel infestation has led to extensive cracking in the concrete pavements, reaching down to the rebar, and has created hazardous holes under each structure.

What will become of FCI Dublin? 

What we don't know:

The question remains: If the property is deactivated, what will go there next? 

Despite initial speculation and rumor after Donald Trump became president, ICE as well as the Department of Homeland Security told KTVU in February there is no effort to turn the abandoned site into an immigration facility, though critics are wary of those statements.

Still, the immigrant rights activists pointed out that those agencies have also "refused to disavow the possibility of converting it into an immigration detention center." 

"We know that they're eyeing Northern California," California Collaborative for Immigrant Justice staff attorney Susan Beaty said at the news conference, adding that there is no other ICE detention center in California north of Bakersfied. "We know that the ICE system is plagued with the very same abuses that plagued FCI Dublin. There are well-documented examples of inhumane conditions and medical neglect."