Immigrant rep. says Adelanto detainees aren’t given water, fresh food

People held at the Adelanto ICE Detention Center have told legal representatives that they are drinking water from their toilets for lack of water.

Yazmin Mercado, an accredited representative who works for the Inland Coalition for Immigrant Justice (IC4IJ) said that detainees at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center have complained about spoiled food and a lack of water in her visits to the facility. Accredited representatives are authorized by the Department of Justice to provide limited legal assistance to immigrants.

Inland Empire Law Weekly reached out to the facility’s owner, the GEO Group, for comment.

At the IC4IJ, Mercado is one of a team of three that has been visiting detainees at the Adelanto center.

“They were telling me they only had one change of clothes, they’ve been there for over a week already. One pair of underwear and socks, he had to wash in the sinks in the restroom. It’s super unsanitary. One of the people I saw, he was very sick. He came into the room and his eyes were very red. He is too scared to even talk with anyone. That level of trust is not there in the facility. People are not aware of what is offered there, in terms of medicine. We know Adelanto’s track record there, and it’s not great,” Mercado said.

The Geo Group was sued by the American Civil Liberties Union in 2020 on allegations of not keeping detainees safe from COVID-19. That suit won the ACLU an injunction that prohibited new detainees. The number of detainees, as a result, dwindled to four—until the lawsuit was settled and the injunction removed this month. The detainment center now has around 1,100 detainees.

The increase has left the center disorganized, and made visits with detainees difficult, Mercado said. 

“They clearly were not prepared for how many people they have now,” Mercado said.

The barriers to legal access are the biggest issue—a lot of them don’t even know what is going on with their case, she continued

“Two of the people I spoke with were detained in court. They came to court, their cases were dismissed, and ICE detained them right away,” Mercado said.

“ICE has not given them explanations for why they have been detained.”

Legal representatives have to request appointments ahead of time, and Mercado said that the center sets up a lot of hoops to jump through before legal representatives can see their clients.

She advised people to carry around proof that they have lived in the United States for more than two years, to avoid deportation under the expedited removal process. 

Mercado’s reports are corroborated by Rep. Judy Chu (D-Monterey Park), who toured the center on June 17 with Reps.Mark Takano (D-Riverside), Linda Sánchez (D-Whittier), Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-Los Angeles) and Luz Rivas (D-Los Angeles). 

“The conditions many of these people are facing are inhumane. The detainees told me that they have gone days without changing their clothes, and they have been unable to use the telephone to call their families or a legal representative. The people I met are not criminals, they are hardworking individuals who strengthen our communities and they simply want the opportunity to work for a better life,” Chu said in a press release.