More than two dozen sworn declarations detail denial of medication, individuals hospitalized for untreated infections, detainees forced to drink dirty water and eat rotten food, and people locked in solitary for asking for basic necessities.
- For media inquiries, email Alex Comisar with Actum here.
- Read the motion for preliminary injunction here.
- For more on L.T. v. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, click here.
LOS ANGELES, March 10, 2026—Public Counsel, the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA), and Immigrant Defenders Law Center (ImmDef), along with co-counsel Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP, have filed a motion for a preliminary injunction in their federal class action lawsuit against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) over conditions inside the Adelanto ICE Processing Center. The motion asks a federal court to order immediate, concrete improvements before more people are irreparably harmed.
Accompanying the motion are more than two dozen sworn declarations—from current and formerly detained individuals, legal advocates, and medical and corrections experts—that provide the most detailed public account yet of daily life inside Adelanto. Together, they paint a portrait of systematic neglect: people with serious medical conditions going weeks without medication or care, food described as rotten and inedible, dirty drinking water, and a pattern of retaliation against anyone who speaks up.
The facility, privately operated by the GEO Group in the California high desert, holds nearly 2,000 people awaiting civil immigration proceedings. Many people detained there have never been convicted of a crime. Yet multiple declarants describe conditions as worse than state or federal prison.
“The evidence now before the court is overwhelming,” said Rebecca Brown, Supervising Attorney at Public Counsel. “Person after person, in their own words, describes the same catastrophic failures—doctors who turn patients away, water too nasty to drink, people locked in isolation for demanding a working shower. This is not a series of isolated incidents. It is the routine operation of this facility. A court must intervene now.”
“In the last two weeks, five children lost their fathers because ICE agents at the Adelanto ICE prison allegedly ignored Alberto Gutierrez Reyes and Irvin Cruz Nape’s repeated pleas for medical help,” said Alvaro M. Huerta, director of litigation and advocacy at Immigrant Defenders Law Center (ImmDef). “This is clear evidence of a system failing people by design. No facility in this country should be allowed to operate with medical crises going ignored, diseases spreading unchecked, mold covering the walls, and with food and water too contaminated to consume. Yet this is daily life for people imprisoned at Adelanto, where speaking up risks retaliation and solitary confinement. We are seeking a court order because this system of abuse must end immediately, before any more lives are lost.”
“Every new death inside an ICE detention center is a moral failure that should shock the conscience of this country,” said Angelica Salas, Executive Director, Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA). “Conditions are worsening—facilities are overcrowded, people are denied timely access to medical care, and the constant neglect is crushing the morale and humanity of those detained. Instead of basic rights and dignity, people are met with indifference and abuse while corporations profit from their suffering. We are outraged, and that is why we are suing and holding these companies accountable—because no one should be allowed to make money off the pain and dehumanization of our communities.”
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