Adelanto Detention Center

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Adelanto Detention Facility
Adelanto Detention Center
Location10400 Rancho Rd, Adelanto, California 92301
StatusOpen (East: August 2011, West: July 2012)
Security classMixed Security
Capacityapprox. 2000
Opened2011
Managed by GEO Group
Location of Adelanto in San Bernardino County, and San Bernardino County in California San Bernardino County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Adelanto Highlighted.svg
Location of Adelanto in San Bernardino County, and San Bernardino County in California

Adelanto Detention Facility is a privately operated immigration detention center [1] in Adelanto, San Bernardino County, California. Owned and operated by the GEO Group, it consists of two separate facilities: East, which was an existing prison purchased in June 2010 from the City of Adelanto with a capacity of about 600 inmates, and the newly built West expansion completed in August 2012 with another 700 beds. [2] After an additional expansion in 2015, the facility's capacity houses up to 1,940 immigrant detainees of all classification levels, with an average stay of 30 days. [3] [4] [5]

Contents

History

From 1991 Adelanto was a state prison for adult male inmates. The GEO Group purchased the facility in 2010 and in May 2011, contracted with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to house federal immigration detainees. [6] [7] Based on the agreement, the center must comply with ICE’s 2011 Performance-Based National Detention Standards, which establish requirements for environmental health and safety, detainee care, activities, and grievance system. [4] The GEO Group also receives a fee of up to about $112 per day per detainee from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, with the city of Adelanto serving as a go-between. [8] This used a complicated subcontracting model so ICE and Adelanto didn't need to award the contract for the center’s operations using competitive bidding as required under Federal regulations. [9]

In 2016, the city of Adelanto extended the company’s contract until 2021. [10]

Conditions

The prison, ICE's newest and largest in California, [11] was the scene of small immigration protests in November 2013. [12] [13]

Since its opening as an ICE detention center in 2011, Adelanto Detention Facility has faced accusations of insufficient medical care and poor conditions. Because of the poor conditions, in July 2015, 29 members of Congress sent a letter to ICE and federal inspectors requesting an investigation addressing their concerns. Later that year in November, 400 detainees went on a hunger strike, to demand better medical and dental care. [10]

In May 2018, government inspectors from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) made a surprise visit to the detention center where 307 contract guards oversaw 1,659 immigrant detainees housed in different facilities around the center. Inspectors found multiple violations of ICE detention standards which posed significant health and safety risks for detainees and restricted detainees' rights. The violations found were: nooses in detainee cells, inappropriate segregation including misuse of solitary confinement, improperly handcuffed and shackled, and detainees with limited English lacked communication assistance; and untimely and inadequate detainee medical care. [7] [4]

During the COVID-19 pandemic, a lawsuit was filed on behalf of six detainees with medical conditions due to inadequate sanitation and beds placed too close together. These conditions provided an “ideal incubation” opportunity for coronavirus. [14]

Hernandez v. Sessions

Hernandez v. Sessions is a class action lawsuit filed in April 2016 by the ACLU and pro bono lawyers from Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom. Lead plaintiffs in the case were non-citizens who were detained at Adelanto Detention Facility due to their inability to afford the bond set by immigration officials. In October 2017, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed a district court’s order granting a classwide preliminary injunction in favor the plaintiffs. The Hernandez decision is the first court case to impose due process requirements in the immigration context and requires ICE officers and immigration judges to consider a person's financial ability to post bond and suitability for non-monetary alternative conditions of supervision when considering the conditions of release. [15] [16]

Related Research Articles

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The COVID-19 pandemic in U.S. immigration detention has been covered extensively since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. More than 38,000 people were detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) at the time of the outbreak of COVID-19 in the United States. ICE's response to the outbreak in detention facilities has been widely characterized as substandard and dangerous. Harmful practices have been reported in numerous facilities managed by third-party private contractors with ICE. For example, reports found that HDQ Neutral disinfectant was used over 50 times per day in un-ventilated areas, which caused pain, bleeding, and severe illness to numerous people held in Adelanto Detention Center, a private prison managed by GEO Group Inc.

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In 2011, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency revised its national detention standards and developed the Performance-Based National Detention Standards. According to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, "the PBNDS 2011 are crafted to improve medical and mental health services, increase access to legal services and religious opportunities, improve communication with detainees with no or limited English proficiency, improve the process for reporting and responding to complaints, and increase recreation and visitation." The PBNDS of 2011 is an important step in United States detention reform. Many revisions reflect efforts to tailor detention practices to the United States border's unique demands and circumstances. The PBNDS of 2011 revised detention standards among seven different sections. Although all sections detail essential contributions to improving the safety, security, order, care, activities, justice, and administration/management of U.S. border control, there are sections pertaining to the specific conditions of undocumented women.

References

  1. ↑ "Second ICE Detainee at Adelanto Detention Center Dies in as Many Weeks". KTLA. 14 April 2017.
  2. ↑ "Adelanto Detention Facility - The GEO Group Inc". Geogroup.com. 2011-05-27. Archived from the original on 2016-05-06. Retrieved 2016-05-03.
  3. ↑ "Inside the Adelanto detention facility: Troubled history, vows for reform". 11 October 2016.
  4. 1 2 3 "DHS OIG HIGHLIGHTS: Management Alert – Issues Requiring Action at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center in Adelanto, California" (PDF). www.oig.dhs.gov. September 27, 2018. Retrieved 2018-12-14.
  5. ↑ "Office of Detention Oversight Compliance Inspection" (PDF). www.ice.gov. September 18–20, 2012. Retrieved 2018-12-14.
  6. ↑ "Adelanto Detention Facility". Archived from the original on March 3, 2014. Retrieved March 3, 2014.
  7. 1 2 Shoichet, Catherine E. (October 3, 2018). "Inspectors found nooses hanging in cells at an ICE detention facility". CNN. Retrieved 14 December 2018.
  8. ↑ Esquivel, Paloma (August 8, 2017). "'We don't feel OK here': Detainee deaths, suicide attempts and hunger strikes plague California immigration facility". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved 2018-12-14.
  9. ↑ BondGraham, Darwin (2019-09-12). "California bans private prisons – including Ice detention centers". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 2019-09-13.
  10. 1 2 "In 3 months, 3 immigrants have died at this private detention center". Mother Jones. Retrieved 2018-12-14.
  11. ↑ "An Immigrant's Dream, Detained". The New York Times . Retrieved 3 May 2016.
  12. ↑ "Protesters decry 'unjust' treatment at Adelanto detention facility". Sbsun.com. 2013-11-25. Retrieved 2016-05-03.
  13. ↑ "ADELANTO: Protest at immigration detention center". Archived from the original on March 3, 2014. Retrieved March 3, 2014.
  14. ↑ "Coronavirus lawsuit: Conditions for immigrant detainees in Adelanto 'ideal' for disease". Orange County Register. 2020-03-31. Retrieved 2020-03-31.
  15. ↑ April 30, Rich Acello |; AM, 2018 at 02:00. "Fighting for Bond Hearings for Detainees". National Law Journal. Retrieved 2018-12-14.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  16. ↑ "Practice Advisory: Bond Hearing and Ability-to-Pay Determinations". American Civil Liberties Union. Retrieved 2018-12-14.

34°33′37″N117°26′14″W / 34.560251°N 117.437228°W / 34.560251; -117.437228

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