SF Chronicle exposes ICE’s inhumane treatment of detainees in CA

By Malihe Razazan,

Published September 11, 2026 at 9:00 AM PDT

Left: A Fresno County man who did not want to be identified for fear of retaliation holds his Real ID, Social Security and permanent-resident cards. Photo by Santago Mejia/S.F. Chronicle. Right: Rodrigo, a 58-year-old Los Angeles green-card holder, was detained for 10 months and denied access to medical care as a tumor in his throat grew to the size of a lemon. Photo by Santiago Mejia/S.F. Chronicle. — Left: A Fresno County man who did not want to be identified for fear of retaliation holds his Real ID, Social Security and permanent-resident cards. Photo by Santago Mejia/S.F. Chronicle.
Right: Rodrigo, a 58-year-old Los Angeles green-card holder, was detained for 10 months and denied access to medical care as a tumor in his throat grew to the size of a lemon. Photo by Santiago Mejia/S.F. Chronicle.

On this edition of Your Call’s Media Roundtable, we’ discuss two San Francisco Chronicle investigations exposing ICE’s treatment of immigrants in detention.

First, we’ll discuss how ICE has turned San Francisco International Airport into a detention center. Then, we’ll examine how ICE’s failure to pay medical providers for detainee care since last October has put their lives in danger.

Guests:

Sara DiNatale, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist covering politics and the impacts of the Trump administration’s policies on the Bay Area and California for the San Francisco Chronicle

John “Sinjin” Barned-Smith, award-winning journalist and member of the San Francisco Chronicle’s breaking news team

Ko Lyn Cheang, award-winning reporter on the metro team covering Asian American and Pacific Islander communities and immigration for the San Francisco Chronicle

Resources:

San Francisco Chronicle: Under Trump, SFO is now a de facto immigration detention center

San Francisco Chronicle: ICE hasn’t paid for detainee medical care since October. Advocates call it the ‘death policy’