By Editor,Lauren Acton-Taylor

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A tiny desert city in California has descended into chaos after a secretive ICE facility was sent hundreds of migrants.

California City in San Francisco became chaotic after hundreds of migrants were shipped into its secretive ICE facility that runs ‘in the cover of darkness’ without the proper permits.

The detention center previously held state inmates but took on detainees at the end of August, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

Now, the center is facing similar issues as other facilities after detainees hosted sit-ins and hunger strikes, resulting in officers barging into cells in riot gear and placing at least four inmates into solitary confinement.

However, the facility has come under fire from city leaders who said its lacking the locally issued permits that state law requires.

‘It all happened in the cover of darkness,’ Mayor Marquette Hawkins said, the Chronicle reported.

City leaders said there wasn’t any warning that the facility would begin taking in detainees. And once news broke, anti-ICE protestors began appearing.

City Council became overrun with residents opposing the facility, causing meetings to descend into public commentary lasting five hours-long.

Residents were heard questioning the council during meetings and pointing out missing protocols as well as the facility’s possible noncompliance with state laws, the outlet reported.

Many comments call for the council to resist ICE as well as the Trump administration and its deportation efforts.

An organizer with the American Civil Liberties Union, Rosa Lopez, claimed the council had left them ‘in the dark,’

‘It’s deeply concerning and appalling that CoreCivic is actively operating… profiting by disregarding the rules that every other business in the city is required to follow,’ Lopez added.

CoreCivic, formerly the Corrections Corporation of America, is currently running and operating the facility.

California has seen the detention of migrants nearly triple from last year, after numbers from January to July reached 10,600, the Chronicle reported.

California City recorded around 502 migrants in its facility as of early September with a capacity of up to 2,560 people.

But city leaders are struggling to tame the political unrest in their small city.

City Council Member Michael Hurles told the outlet he contacted Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office twice, as well as the state attorney general, asking for help to navigate the mess.

Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office told the Chronicle through spokesperson Nina Sheridan that they ‘remain committed to ensuring the Trump Administration and its contractors comply with all applicable laws.’

The small city has felt stranded with little help from officials as it continues to review the center’s permits and await input from Bonta’s office.

Hurles told the outlet that fears loom over the city’s $31 million budget, as the city is already in debt and a lawsuit from any direction could leave it bankrupt.

‘Our little city ordinances can only do so much,’ Hawkins said. ‘When two elephants fight, it’s the grass between them that suffers. California City is the grass.’

Hurles shared concerns the city’s Hispanic population – roughly 40 percent of the city – will become a target of ICE and the facility has already caused tensions among its Hispanic residents.

‘Everybody talks about it,’ Juan Carlos Cervera, 54, told the Chronicle. ‘Everybody is afraid.