Conditions at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center have faced scrutiny from lawyers and immigrant rights groups over allegations of abuse and neglect.
Southern California News Group reporter Ryanne Mena has been reporting on conditions at the facility and has been hearing directly from people detained there.
What did you feel was missing from the broader conversation about Adelanto that made you center detainees’ letters?
RYANNE MENA: So one of the reasons why I sought to get these letters is to hear directly from people who are detained inside this ICE facility about what their experiences are like, day to day, and anything else they wanted to tell me. I wanted to give them the opportunity to tell the public what it's like being inside this place.
Who are the people who wrote to you and what are their experiences?
MENA: So one of the men I spoke to and who wrote me a letter is a 60 year old man named Abraham who spent the first eight months of ICE detention in total silence. Abraham is deaf, and when he was detained by federal agents last spring, he told me they took his hearing aids and never gave them back. When I visited him in December, he was only able to understand me by lip reading what I was saying to him in Spanish, and he also showed me an infection he had on his right thigh. Later that day, I found out he got hearing aids, but they don't work well enough to hear anyone over the phone. He's still inside the Adelanto ICE facility.
We also have 51-year-old Jose, who has been detained inside two Adelanto ICE facilities for almost three years and another detained man bit the tip of his right pinky off and ate it. After he was taken to a hospital, he was thrown into solitary confinement for several weeks. He said into a cell that was leaking, and he also said that he didn't receive antibiotics for the infection, and it was only when his infected finger burst while he was sleeping that he received the medication. And he is also still detained.
As you spent time reading these letters, what stayed with you the most?
MENA: The experiences of and descriptions of psychological stress that people face inside really chilled…chilled me, honestly. They describe an agonizing feeling of just not knowing when they'll see life outside and when they'll be reunited with their loved ones. But what also stuck with me is the hope that a lot of them described feeling that they will one day be reunited with their loved ones, and that that's what they hold on to to get through life inside.
Did ICE or federal officials dispute any of the claims described in the letters?
MENA: ICE disputed every claim I presented to them. They denied the experiences these detained men told me about. They said that [detainees] are provided with three square meals every day, that they receive adequate medical care. The men I spoke to said that while they might receive three square meals a day, they tell me that it's often not enough, it's inadequate, and that sometimes it's served rotten.
Why is it important that there's oversight at these detention centers? There’s been a push from lawmakers, Democratic lawmakers specifically, around doing more oversight. Any thoughts on that?
MENA: Yeah, this is a facility that seemingly operates with little transparency. It's difficult for politicians to get in there. It's important for people to know what's going on inside these for profit ICE detention centers, especially as the populations in these facilities continue to rise with Trump's ongoing intensified immigration crackdowns. It’s important for the public to know how their tax dollars are being spent.
Read more of Ryanne's reporting about Adelanto's ICE facility in SCNG newspapers, including the Press Enterprise, San Bernardino Sun, Daily Bulletin and the Redlands Daily Facts.
