Mold and gnat larvae in shower rooms, cracked and worn-out mattresses, delayed visitations and an inadequate system to track disability accommodations were among the ongoing violations documented for the first time by an independent court monitor at California’s largest immigration detention center.
A second monitor assigned to inspect the medical conditions at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center told the court it was prevented from accessing the facility and medical records.
The report comes three months after a federal judge ordered sweeping reforms at the facility and appointed two court monitors to assess the conditions at the facility.
The order, part of a class-action lawsuit filed by detainees over conditions at the facility, required the government to provide 24-hour access to clean drinking water, nutritious and sanitary meals, proper medical care, adequate sanitation throughout the facility, including mold remediation and at least four hours of daily outdoor time.
Court monitor Kellie Wasko’s report asserts that the government remained largely out of compliance with the court’s order. The report focused on two buildings of the facility dubbed East and West. During her visit, Wasko documented that the 1,708 detainees in the buildings had access to clean drinking water and hygiene products, and that the facility was kept clean.
At the same time, she found the tap water detainees used was often lukewarm, and the facility was using a spigot to refill water coolers for the East building. The facility was not using the proper filtration system in the other building.
She also observed mold in “every general population shower room” of the West building as well as “larvae on the floors,” according to the report. She said there were no mold issues in the East building but that the shower curtains were torn and had developed mold and mildew.
Wasko also observed that the air ventilation system was dirty and needed cleaning.
“The detainees tell me that they feel someone is always getting cold or sick because of the particles coming from the ducts,” Wasko wrote in her report.
She said she’s waiting for menus with caloric values, as well as reports from the visiting dietitian to determine whether detainees are receiving nutritious meals. She said the facility is also working to improve outdoor recreation time.
In Wednesday’s court filing, attorneys for the detainees asked a federal judge to hold the government in civil contempt for violating the order and to impose daily fines of $500 for each violation until they are addressed. They asked a judge to hold a hearing Tuesday. .
The attorneys said detainees have complained about going three to seven hours without water, and about having access only to tap water that tastes like metal and smells like fish.
They said at least one man collapsed in mid-September and was hospitalized for dehydration, and meals have been served as early as 4 a.m. They alleged workers painted over the mold instead of removing it, and that outdoor time remains limited, allegations the court monitor confirmed.
“The government has had every opportunity to comply, and it has chosen not to,” said Rebecca Brown, supervising attorney at Public Counsel, the main law firm representing the plaintiffs. “That is defiance of a federal court order, and people are being hospitalized because of it.
“We demand that the government comply with the court’s order now, and we are asking the court to hold it accountable if it does not.”
In a court filing Wednesday, the government told the court it was complying and that it was starting to provide outstanding requests from the monitors.
In an email response to The Times, an unidentified spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security said “any claim that there are subprime conditions at Adelanto ICE Processing Center are false.”
“All detainees are provided with proper meals, water, medical treatment, and have opportunities to communicate with their family members and lawyers,” the statement read. “ICE has higher detention standards than most U.S. prisons that hold actual U.S. citizens.”
Homeland Security officials said their staff uses the same water as residents and businesses in the city of Adelanto.
“Our staff members at the facility also consume the water alongside illegal aliens,” the spokesperson wrote. “Employees and illegal aliens have access to this water supply 24/7 through water fountains and coolers.”
Wednesday’s filing marks the latest escalation in the legal fight over conditions at the facility and the government’s lack of compliance with the court’s directives.
At least four people have died at the facility, where nearly 1,800 people are being held. Families alleged inadequate care at the facility contributed to their relatives’ deaths. The federal agencies have disputed those claims.
The Adelanto facility, which was recently purchased by DHS from the private prison giant GEO Group Inc., has faced longstanding scrutiny over its conditions and treatment of detained immigrants, with federal and state oversight reports documenting repeated concerns about detainee safety, medical care and the use of segregation.
A 2018 federal report by the Office of Inspector General urged ICE to conduct a full review of the facility and GEO Group’s management, after finding serious violations, including overly restrictive detainee segregation and guards who failed to keep detainees from hanging braided sheet “nooses.”
Last year, a report from the California Department of Justice found that the six privately operated immigration detention facilities in the state, including Adelanto, fell short in providing inmates mental health care, needed better suicide prevention strategies and used disproportionate force against detainees with mental health conditions.
Most recently, a trove of documents published and later removed by ICE show that the agency’s own investigators repeatedly found that people died in U.S. immigration detention centers after receiving substandard medical care.
The internal reports, which briefly appeared in the agency’s public records library before being removed, examined the deaths of 33 people in ICE custody between September 2019 and January 2026, including deaths at Adelanto, according to the San Francisco Chronicle, which first reported the findings.
Detainees and immigrant rights groups have increasingly challenged conditions at Adelanto in court and through protests such as hunger strikes.
In January, immigrant rights groups and detainees filed a federal class action lawsuit against the federal government, which led to the court order in July.
That month, U.S. District Judge Sunshine S. Sykes granted a renewed motion for a preliminary injunction, ordering the agencies to make sweeping changes at the detention center.
Sykes said she granted the motion because the detainees were likely to succeed on claims that the government violated their constitutional and disability rights.
Beyond addressing conditions at the facility, she barred the government from placing detainees in administrative segregation unless needed for security threats or requested by a detainee. Immigrant advocacy groups said the practice continues. The monitor’s report said the government was complying with that order.
To ensure compliance, Sykes ordered ICE to provide access to “two qualified, independent, third-party monitors for the duration of this litigation or until terminated by court order,” according to the court order.
“A government that is actually meeting its constitutional obligations has no reason to fear public scrutiny,” said Alvaro M. Huerta, director of litigation and advocacy at the Immigrant Defenders Law Center. “Just last week another person died while in ICE custody, bringing the death toll to a record-breaking 58 people under the current administration. ICE must immediately comply with the court’s orders. Human lives are at stake.”
This week, amid extreme heat, dozens of clergy members from different faith groups completed a 96-mile pilgrimage from the Adelanto facility to L.A. and called for an end to what they say are cruel immigration policies and to close all detention centers.
The Rev. Canon Jaime Edwards-Acton of St. Stephen’s Hollywood, said the pilgrimage was to bring awareness to the people who have died at Adelanto and other facilities.
“We are walking 96 miles, so those names are spoken somewhere other than a court filing,” Edwards-Acton said. “And because nearly 2,000 people are still inside who have not died, and whose lives are still ours to fight for.”
The post Mold, larvae and dehydration: New report paints grim picture inside Adelanto ICE facility appeared first on Los Angeles Times.
