In a move that’s raising a lot of eyebrows, the Biden administration has agreed to settle a lawsuit that will allow the reopening of the Adelanto ICE Processing Center in California. This facility has been the center of major controversy, with reports of toxic chemicals being used on detainees and widespread allegations of denied basic civil rights. Sadly, at least eight people have died at the center between 2011 and 2020.
The reopening comes after a judge issued a COVID-19 intake ban in 2020, which blocked new detainees from entering the facility due to health concerns. Now, however, motions have been filed to lift the ban and bring new detainees back in. This comes just as some people who were held there, like Kelvin Hernandez Roman, are speaking out. He was detained for nine months for something as minor as tinted windows. His lawyer claims he should’ve been released the same day he was arrested, but instead, he was left in a holding cell for hours, waiting for ICE to pick him up.
Civil rights groups, including the ACLU and Freedom for Immigrants, are outraged. They argue that detainees faced serious abuses in the facility, such as denied medical care, unsafe food and water, and poor living conditions. The GEO Group, which runs the facility, has also faced lawsuits for allegedly using harmful chemicals that caused detainees to suffer from nosebleeds, headaches, and even bone pain.
Despite the troubling history, the facility’s reopening has sparked debates about the future of ICE detention and the treatment of immigrants in U.S. custody.
