What is — and is not — in ICE’s plan to improve conditions at privately run Adelanto
Jared Bennett
is the watchdog correspondent covering immigration and law enforcement at LAist.
Published Jul 31, 2026 2:02 PM
In March 2026, Angelenos journeyed to the Adelanto ICE Processing Center in the Mojave Desert to protest conditions at the facility. Before leaving, they created an altar for immigrants who’ve recently died in custody.
(Libby Rainey
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LAist
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The federal government, under a court order to immediately improve conditions at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center, said late Thursday it is working with the private contractor that runs the facility to improve conditions
Allegations of inhumane conditions at Adelanto have been at the center of protests for months. Located 90 miles from downtown Los Angeles, the privately run detention facility in San Bernardino County is now over capacity, after being nearly empty 18 months ago
Four people have died at Adelanto since September 2025
On July 16, a U.S. District judge ordered federal officials to immediately improve medical care, disability accommodations and daily conditions for people held at the Adelanto
In her order, Judge Sunshine Suzanne Sykes gave the Department of Homeland Security 14 days to submit a plan to address alleged deficiencies long term
The government’s response, filed just ahead of Thursday’s deadline for a long-term improvement plan, was short on details and included pushback. Lawyers for the federal government notified the court they plan to appeal the order to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and asked the court to hold off on enforcing the July 16 order until that appeal is decided
- According tofilings, the defendants and plaintiffs have agreed on candidates for a monitor to keep an eye on overall conditions at the facility. They have not agreed on a monitor to focus on medical conditions. Both parties have proposed candidates in court filings.
- In their remediation plan, federal officials told the court that the privately run facility is already in compliance with several of the standards set in the court order, including providing timely diagnostic testing for health issues, ensuring continuous access to over-the-counter and prescribed medications and informing people held at the facility of their patients’ rights.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials said in their filed plan that they have been reviewing the contract with The GEO Group, which runs Adelanto, and will work to bring the facility into compliance with the full court order
Alison Steffel, a staff attorney with the Immigrant Defenders Law Center, one of the organizations representing plaintiffs in the case, said the government’s plan is “just the first step.”
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“Now, the question is whether the government is going to fully and promptly implement this court order,” Steffel said
Steffel said the plan lacks details about how and when key reforms will be implemented
“Much of the filing describes the same policies and practices that failed to prevent years of suffering inside Adelanto,” Steffel said. “The court ordered concrete remedial measures because the existing systems failed to address the conditions that gave rise to this litigation.”
As to the government’s claims that it is already compliant with some standards, Steffel said it will be up to the independent monitors to determine if the court’s order is being followed
More reaction to the latest developments
A spokesperson for GEO referred LAist to ICE for comment
In an emailed, unsigned statement, the Department of Homeland Security said claims that conditions at Adelanto are substandard are false
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“All detainees are provided with proper meals, water, medical treatment, and have opportunities to communicate with their family members and lawyers,” the statement read, in part
Ryan Smith, an ICE assistant field office director, told the courtin a declaration that the July 16 preliminary injunction “frustrates and impedes” the agency’s ability to enforce immigration laws
Smith’s declaration said the facility already complies with many of the immediate requirements of the injunction, and that other requirements would create safety risks or an “undue burden” for ICE
Carl Bergquist is general counsel for the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights — known as CHIRLA — which is one of the organizations representing plaintiffs in the lawsuit. He said the plaintiffs plan to formally oppose the government’s request to stay the injunction
He also expressed concern that other aspects of the court order — including an immediate requirement to provide 24-hour access to clean drinking water, healthy meals and hygiene products — remain unaddressed, despite the government’s claims
“All of that was supposed to be immediate upon the order coming out,” said Bergquist. “We believe we’ve seen instances of some of that not happening already. So that’s a problem.”
Bergquist said his organization has monitored conditions at Adelanto since the July 16 order through visits once or twice a week to the detention center. He said CHIRLA has also taken new reports from people who are detained there either through the organization’s hotline or through family members
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What the order requires ICE to do to improve conditions at Adelanto
The preliminary injunction
- Provide 24-hour access to clean potable drinking water and nutritious and sanitary meals with enough calories
- Clean the facility daily, provide free soap and hygiene products, treat and remediate mold
- Ensure adequate privacy to detainees using the restroom or showering
- Provide access to sanitary and temperature-appropriate clothing
- Provide access to sanitary and temperature-appropriate mattresses, pillows and blankets
- Provide access to outdoor recreation spaces for at least four hours a day, unless there are documented security risks
- Allow visits, without time limits, during the facility’s business hours that allow for physical contact
- Conduct head counts of detainees
- Stop the isolation of detainees unless there is a documented security concern that threatens safety of security or staff, with some exceptions
How we got here
Adelanto has a long history of complaints about its conditions. The facility was nearly shut downduring the COVID-19 pandemic because of unsafe conditions
A court ordered the facility to stop accepting new detainees, and the population remained relatively low, down to fewer than a handful of detainees by the end of the Biden administration
The population climbed sharply with the start of intense ICE enforcement in the L.A. area in June 2025
Bergquist called the rapid change from a nearly empty facility to one that is now over capacity “a recipe for what we’re seeing now.”
Concerns about current conditions at Adelanto have been documented by state officials for more than a year. An amicus brief filed in June by California Attorney General Rob Bonta, whose office inspects immigration detention centers in the state, details several problems at the facility found during a July 2025 inspection
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“The Attorney General’s office found, among other things, a facility that was overwhelmed with the rapid population increase; insufficient staffing; failures to attend to urgent medical needs, to care for individuals with chronic conditions, and to ensure specialty care referrals; and use of force concerns,” according to the brief. The brief said inspectors heard reports of “murky and dirty” water and improperly cooked food
“Almost every person interviewed complained about the quality of the food,” according to the brief
The lawsuit that led to the July injunction was filed six months after Bonta’s inspection on behalf of four plaintiffs representing Adelanto detainees as a class
They asked the court to “to end the unlawful and unconstitutional conditions at Adelanto, prohibit Defendants from violating their civil, constitutional, and human rights, and require Defendants to provide lawfully adequate conditions,” the complaint reads. “In other words, they ask to be treated like human beings.”
The GEO group runs Adelanto for federal officials under a contract that runs through 2029.
(David Wagner
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LAist
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Who is responsible for conditions?
In court filings, the federal government has argued it cannot be held responsible for the actions of GEO, its contractor. According to the lawsuit, ICE’s current contract with Adelanto pays GEO more than $400 million a year to run the facility. The contract was extended for five years in 2024, and is now set to expire in 2029
While issuing the preliminary injunction, Sykes ruled that the plaintiffs demonstrated they are likely to prevail, “or at least, raise serious questions” on their claims that the facility violated their Fifth Amendment protections against inhuman conditions and will suffer “irreparable harm” if the courts don’t grant relief
In its Thursday request to stay the injunction, the federal government reiterated its position that ICE does not “own, staff, or run” Adelanto and cannot address the conditions there on its own
“The difficulty is not the conditions the Order describes; it is that the Order commands ICE to produce results inside a facility that The GEO Group, Inc. — a private federal contractor that is not a party in the litigation — owns, staffs, and operates every hour of every day,” the filing reads
Bergquist said Sykes has rejected those claims
“We argued that ICE is in charge here and those arguments are spurious. The judge agreed with that and thus moved ahead” with the preliminary injunction
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The filing states that ICE’s contract with GEO requires the facility to comply with several sets of national standards for detention and correctional health
The government also argues several parts of the order go beyond the contractual obligations between GEO and ICE, and could be dangerous if implemented
An independent monitor found ICE also fails to provide adequate medical care at its California City facility in Kern County
Bergquist said lawsuits are challenging the conditions at ICE detention centers nationwide
“I think in most of these cases that I’m aware of, including California City, the conditions are absolutely not satisfactory and injunctions are being put in place,” Bergquist said
Details of the government’s response
On July 16, a federal judge ordered the government to create a plan to improve conditions at Adelanto. The government submitted that plan on July 30
Here’s how federal officials responded:
Medical care
The requirement: Implement “documented health intake screening” for everyone held at the facility within eight hours of arrival
ICE response: ICE says standards at the facility already require comprehensive health screening within 12 hours. The agency says it asked GEO to comply with the standard by reducing the maximum screening time down to eight hours
The requirement: Ensure access to “primary, secondary, and tertiary medical care” for everyone held at the facility
ICE response: ICE says it has asked GEO to comply with this standard and are reviewing the standards set by the agency’s contract with the company
The requirement: Ensure timely diagnostic testing and required timeframes for review and follow-up on results
ICE response: ICE says the facility is already compliant
The requirement: Continuous provision of ordered medications
ICE response: ICE says the facility is already compliant
The requirement: Make sure all patients are informed of their rights, with translations as needed
ICE response: ICE says the facility is already compliant
Disability Accommodations
The requirement: Implement a system to identify and track anyone with qualifying disabilities
ICE response: ICE says the facility is already compliant, but that GEO is requesting additional staff to manage the process
The requirement: Provide reasonable accommodations to people with disabilities
ICE response: ICE says the facility is already compliant, but that GEO is requesting additional staff to manage the process
The requirement: Provide materials, with translations as needed, to inform people of their rights to accommodations
ICE response: ICE says the facility is already compliant
Grievance system
The requirement: Ensure there is a process for people to confidentially submit complaints or comments to the independent monitors
ICE response: ICE says it is reviewing its contract with GEO and that the company will establish a new, handwritten grievance process
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