LOS ANGELES – Disability and immigrant rights groups shared during a press conference outside of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) field office downtown Thursday that conditions at the Adelanto Detention Facility in San Bernardino County, a privately run prison operated by the GEO Group under contract with ICE, are putting detainees at risk.
Since May the population at the Adelanto Detention Facility has grown from 300 people to more than 1400. Immigrants who have been arrested during Border Patrol and ICE enforcement operations since June are being held there, which has a reputation for poor living and medical conditions. There have been eight reported deaths, according to the Inland Coalition for Immigrant Justice.
The recent spike in the facility's population has disability and immigrant advocates sounding the alarm. Disability Rights California — the agency legally charged with protecting the rights of people with disabilities — observed the facility firsthand and reported inadequate medical and mental health care, limited access to water and bad food quality. The findings led the group to release a report last month.
Richard Diaz, senior staff attorney with Disability Rights California, says monitoring visits have uncovered inhumane conditions at Adelanto. He reports detainees’ physical and mental health have worsened in recent weeks due to living conditions. Diaz adds that people with pre-existing illnesses often go weeks without medication, or don’t receive it at all.
“I went back to talk to an individual about a month after we did our initial investigation,” said Diaz, “and the person looked even more distraught. They shared how they had had a panic attack and had to go to the hospital. People are decompensating and getting worse being in there. So I can only imagine someone who has an even more serious condition is even having more life threatening consequences of being in there.”
In a letter shared with KVCR, a Chinese woman detained at Adelanto says she has a tumor and isn’t being given treatment.
“I urgently need a full medical evaluation and must be released on medical parole as soon as possible to receive treatment… I do not want to wait behind bars until the day my condition becomes irreversible,” she wrote.
Lizbeth Castillejos-Abeln with the Inland Coalition for Immigrant Justice says ICE and DHS are not treating detained people humanely.
“Having a tumor… like you should be able to have medical care for that,” said Castillejos-Abeln, “and it could be a life or death situation, and it has been for the eight people that have passed away in there.”
The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, did not respond to a request for comment. Republican Congressman Jay Obernolte, who represents the area where the Adelanto Detention Facility is located, toured the facility last month and praised its operations.
“Those in custody are provided with access to medical care, legal counsel, meals, and the full rights guaranteed under federal law,” he said in a statement.
Congresswoman Judy Chu, who plans to visit the Adelanto Detention Facility on Friday, says she’s committed to oversight to remind ICE and DHS that people care and want humane conditions for detainees.
“[Immigrants] are very integral to our quality of life here,” said Chu. “We certainly can't forget them, and we certainly can't let them just linger in these horrendous, inhumane conditions where they can't even get a proper drink of water. They have done nothing wrong, except that they are here without papers. But other than that, they are leading a life in which they're contributing to our local economy.”
