Anthony Victoria
For KVCR News, I'm Anthony Victoria. This is IE Latino Voices, where we highlight the people, organizations, and stories shaping Latino communities across the Inland Empire. Conditions at the Adelanto Ice Processing Center continue to draw scrutiny from immigrant rights advocates, attorneys, and families of people detained there. A federal judge recently ruled that the Department of Homeland Security and GEO Group, the company that operates the facility must provide detainees with adequate food and drinking water. But immigrant families say conditions inside Adelanto remain a concern. Today, I'm joined by Southern California News Group reporter Ryanne Mena, who has been investigating conditions at Adelanto and speaking with detainees and their families, Ryanne. Thanks so much again for joining us to discuss your reporting.
Ryanne Mena
Yeah, thanks for having me back.
Anthony Victoria
Of course. What are you hearing now about conditions inside Adelanto? Have things changed since we last spoke?
Ryanne Mena
Things haven't changed, according to the people that I've been speaking to inside. You know, issues still persist with food, with it being spoiled or undercooked, delayed medical care, and water quality issues, and access to drinking water issues too.
Anthony Victoria
Yeah, so I know that's some of the reporting you've done recently. Tell us what you found and what detainees have been telling you about water quality inside.
Ryanne Mena
So a week before I published this piece, a video showing what appeared to be, you know, worm-like creatures swimming in a water bottle from inside Adelanto went viral on social media after first reported by Univision and LA Taco. The video was taken by the family of Ricardo Parias, also known as citizen journalist Richard LA, and that video was taken during that video call. So in an interview, he told me that he first heard about the worms from another detained man in his unit who came up to him, holding a cup of freshly poured water, and was like, "These are the worms I found in my water." And then two other men corroborated Parias' claims about this contaminated drinking water. One of the men told me that he has to filter the drinking water with his underwear before he drinks it, and that his underwear have caught two little ones, little ones being worms. And another man in that unit told me that about 10 people are sick inside vomiting, and they think it's because of the water.
Anthony Victoria
What has ICE, DHS, and GEO Group said in response to those claims?
Ryanne Mena
The Department of Homeland Security actually didn't respond to my questions, but GEO Group, the private prison company that owns and operates the Adelanto ICE facilities, said that people detained inside Adelanto have 24-hour access to clean, potable drinking water, and that the water - drinking water jugs are cleaned, sanitized, and refilled three times a day. They also said that each unit has drinking fountains, but three men detained in three different units in Adelanto said that there aren't any drinking fountains in their unit. GEO Group also said that the facility has its tap water tested each year by a purported nationally recognized FDA certified company, and said that the results from its latest test in January found all results to be within compliance, within required ranges. And I asked them for the name of this FDA certified company and the January results, but I didn't get a response back.
Anthony Victoria
Wow. And I know a federal judge recently ordered changes at Adelanto. What kind of evidence, if any, are you seeing that those changes are being implemented?
Ryanne Mena
So I've been asking people detained inside Adelanto if any changes have been made since Judge Sunshine Sykes ordered these immediate changes inside Adelanto regarding conditions like with water, food, etc. People inside have told me that nothing has changed. That they are still receiving spoiled, undercooked food, water issues still persist, and they're still not getting adequate outdoor time. Honestly, people are afraid that they're going to die in there. Multiple people in recent months have told me that they're afraid they're going to be the next ICE in custody death because of how conditions are and how they're not getting better, even with these court changes. And they know about these court changes and try to tell people inside that work they're like, "Hey, you guys are supposed to be improving these conditions." But one man inside actually told me that one facility worker told him nothing's going to change until ICE tells him to change something.
Anthony Victoria
That's insane. What motivates you to keep going back to this story and and report on Adelanto in particular? You know, you're based in LA. I imagine you're driving miles and miles at a time to visit folks in detention. What's the motivation that drives you to continue to put a spotlight on this?
Ryanne Mena
I think it's so important reporting on these detention centers. It's about accountability, accountability of conditions, and how taxpayer dollars that fund these facilities are being spent.
Anthony Victoria
Yeah. Well, thanks, Ryan. Thanks a lot for your reporting. I really appreciate it. That was Ryanne Mena, reporter with the Southern California News Group. Join us again next week for IE Latino Voices. You can find this segment and others on our website at kvcr.org/ielatinovoices. IE Latino Voices is produced by KVCR Public Media and is funded by generous support from the CIELO Fund at IECF. For KVCR News, I'm Anthony Victoria.
