A migrant from Belize who was leading a hunger strike at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center has been deported. Immigrant rights groups claim that the man was deported in retaliation by the Department of Homeland Security.
Kyon Shakeel Swaso had raised concerns about conditions inside Adelanto to a congressional delegation who visited on June 1. Democratic congressmembers Judy Chu, Pete Aguilar and Jimmy Gomez visited the hunger strikers and attempted to assess conditions at the detention center.
The Immigrant Defenders Law Center said Swaso was transferred from Adelanto to a detention center in Texas on June 10 and later to Louisiana. They said he was deported two days later.
ImmDef alleges Swaso’s transfers and subsequent deportation was retaliation for speaking out. They said DHS violated a federal court order that requires advance notice to move detainees out of state.
ImmDef shared that the Central Court of California, attorneys and Swaso himself did not receive notice of the transfers.
DHS told KVCR on Tuesday evening that allegations that Swaso’s transfer and deportation violated the court’s order are false and that Swaso’s attorneys did not file an order requiring notice of removal or transfer in this case.
DHS also confirmed that Swaso was arrested by ICE in September 2024 for overstaying after his B1 Visa expired. They also said Swaso has an extensive criminal record.
Meanwhile, Swaso said in a written statement that detainees are being quote “treated like animals.”
“The treatment in detention is political,” reads Swaso’s statement. “It trickles down from the President to the agencies. Despite everything we are facing, people here continue to support one another and stand together in unity.”
Migrant detainees at Adelanto went on hunger strike for about three weeks after some raised concerns over poor food and water, medical treatment and lack of access to legal representation or bond. ImmDef said the strike was motivated by the California Department of Justice’s report on the conditions of immigrant detention centers in California.
“The deportation of Mr. Swaso does nothing to erase the truth he tried to bring to light about the deplorable conditions in Adelanto ICE Prison,” said Melissa Shepard, legal services director at ImmDef. “The Trump administration meets reports of abusive conditions not with accountability, but with escalating cruelty. We stand in solidarity with the courageous hunger strikers who are risking their health and their lives to demand basic dignity inside Adelanto.”
