Detainees inside of both the Adelanto ICE Processing Center and the Desert View Annex are currently participating in a hunger strike to protest conditions inside the facilities. Adelanto and Desert View are considered separate facilities, while only a two-minute drive from each other.
According to an anonymous source who spoke with L.A. TACO, there are more than 100 people currently striking in the Adelanto ICE Processing Center. She says nearly all the people in the area where her husband is detained are participating in the hunger strike.
Their spouse is among the participants continuing an ongoing action that began on Thursday or Friday of last week. L.A. TACO has not been able to independently confirm the number of strike participants nor the strike's exact start date.
There are at least 20 men participating in the Desert View Annex hunger strike, as stated in an online press conference held on May 20 by several immigration rights groups.
The action at the Desert View Annex is both a hunger strike and “economic boycott,” in which detainees will be abstaining from commissary purchases and withholding their phone calls, which financially benefit the operators of the facilities.
“The detention center is not a jail or a prison," the wife of a hunger striker in the Adelanto ICE Processing Center tells L.A. TACO, choosing to remain anonymous due to fears of retaliation. “They should still get help."
She told L.A. TACO about her husband, who is in his mid-20’s and a father of two, and has been inside of the Adelanto ICE Processing Center.
He was detained in Whittier along with his father, who has since been deported to Mexico.
She described her husband as the type of dad and husband who is very protective of his family: a hard worker who takes night shifts or works two jobs to make ends meet, if needed. Since her husband was detained, she has had to move out of their apartment. Despite having some savings, she says it was not enough to cover all of the bills.
She also told L.A. TACO that the reasons her husband participated in the hunger strike were due to the lack of help from staff and medical neglect. She alleges that her husband submitted paperwork to be seen by medical staff at the facility for a foot injury, but claims he was not seen, and no appointments were scheduled.
She said that when he asked the staff about forms he needed to prepare adequately for his court date, they were not helpful. Additionally, she said that she is happy that her husband is supporting the movement by participating in the strike, despite being worried about him not eating.
“ There was a moment he had called me through the tablet, and [facility staff] were going cell-to-cell, asking who was gonna participate in the protest. Because if they said they were gonna participate, they were gonna take their commissary items away,” she tells L.A. TACO.
She was on the phone with her husband and heard the threat herself. She says her husband's commissary items were not taken, but he was threatened again in the days following the incident. She is unsure of what items her husband was in possession of at the time but items that he may have bought include shoes, food, or a toothbrush.
“ I was pissed because we . . . well, I personally pay for his things. I put money in his account, so for them to take it away makes no sense,” she says.
The family has started a GoFundMe to help pay for basic necessities.
“The detained people are already in poor health and underfed due to GEO Group’s medical neglect, yet are hunger striking to demand due process, bond reform, improved conditions, adequate medical and mental health care, nutritious food, accountability for deaths, and the right to organize and communicate,” a press release compiled by several immigrant rights groups stated.
The groups allege that the facility is decreasing the portion sizes of food while commissary prices are rising, benefiting the very companies that are overseeing their detentions. Community advocates emphasized that the detainees demand the Adelanto ICE Processing Center be shut down.
The press conference held on May 20 was put together by a coalition of organizations with people detained inside and their loved ones. These include Defend Migrants Alliance, Tanggol Migrante Movement, Shut Down Adelanto Coalition, American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights, Inland Coalition for Immigrant Justice, Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice, Strength Based Community Change, No Camps California, NELA for Democracy, and American Party of Labor, along with other community advocates.
Loved ones of people detained at the facilities spoke out during the press conference, which was hosted on Zoom early May 20.
Eva, the wife of a man named Luis, who has been detained for around seven months, said her husband has been in both facilities, and "it’s been a horrible experience.” Luis is currently participating in the hunger strike.
Eva described Luis, who is currently at the Desert View Annex, as a hardworking man who helps his neighbors and solves problems. He was detained on a Saturday on his way to work according to Eva. He is currently suffering from a medical issue with his finger, which was lost while working as a tree trimmer; the incident resulted in damage to other fingers, too.
His wife said he has "robotic fingers" and is not able to receive therapy for his injury while inside. A community advocate said the raw nerves on his hand should be covered, and he has not been offered anything to protect his hand.
Eva said that after a few months in the Adelanto ICE Processing Center, her husband asked one of the guards if he could move from a top bunk to the empty lower bunk.
The guard told him, “For what? You’ve already been like that two months.”
Luis told the guard that he was making it a point now, because after two months, he was tired of the metal shocking him. The guard told him he needed to go to be seen by medics to get approval. He said his previous medical notes had gone unanswered.
Eva alleges that her husband put in a physical complaint regarding the situation, and the guard laughed at him and signed it. Eva alleges that another detainee told Luis that complaints placed in that box are ripped apart and never heard of again. She also alleged that if one detainee does something that staff is unhappy with, “They all get punished across the board.”
Tom, a Vietnamese migrant, was in the Adelanto ICE Processing Center for six months and was recently released. Tom is currently not participating in the hunger strike at this time. His younger brother spoke about Tom’s experience and his own experience as a visitor to the facility. According to him, Tom was taken at a routine check-in.
His younger brother, who went to the facility, described having to squeeze a jacket for his brother through a tiny window because he was not provided one. He described feeling cold during his visit and seeing water dripping from the walls. He said that Tom would become sick from the food and alleged that Tom did not receive adequate treatment when he fell ill.
“It’s not a humane place. I’ve seen so much mistreatment of people,” he said during the conference.
Eva mentioned that on another occasion, her husband had a cough and the treatment he received included two Tylenol pills, Christmas mints, and baggies with salt to gurgle. In addition to the detainees, the bad treatment from staff extends to family members, she added.
“‘Let us die, this is a hell hole,’” Eva said, describing how the detainees feel inside the facility.
She worries about the men's mental health, noting that they are desperate. She has heard detainees say they just want to die in there because they feel that nobody cares.
The sister of a Salvadoran migrant named Jose, who fled from police violence in El Salvador, also spoke at the news conference. It is unclear if her brother is participating in the hunger strike at this time. She said that Jose has been detained at the Adelanto center for two years, is a father to five, and has a clean record. She shared that on one occasion Jose fell inside Adelanto and was bruised. He was not given any medication. She also described how one of her nieces sits by her window, waiting for Jose to come home.
Caleb Soto, a lawyer with the National Day Labor Network, has visited many people inside the detention facilities. He has watched people seemingly age many years in a matter of months, due to the poor conditions inside. Soto said that a hunger strike is a last resort—what people do when every other option has been taken away. He says there is a long history of hunger strikes that have occurred inside immigration detention centers.
Advocates said during the press conference that the detainees potentially face retaliation for their actions from the facility staff. They said at this time they have not yet confirmed if any of the detainees protesting have been placed in solitary confinement.
Advocates said members of the public can support the detainees by joining the organizations that are supporting these detainees, by writing letters or reaching out to their representatives regarding the conditions in the facility, and by also conducting visitations with people inside.
Since 2025, four people detained at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center have died in ICE Custody: Jose Guadalupe Ramos-Solano, Alberto Gutierrez-Reyes, Gabriel Garcia Aviles, and Ismael Ayala-Uribe, according to reporting by L.A. TACO.
Irvin Cruz-Nape died following his release from the Adelanto ICE Processing Center, bringing the total deaths related to the particular center since the start of Trump's second term to at least five deaths.
The facility has long faced criticism over inadequate conditions from immigration rights groups and congressional representatives. A class action lawsuit was filed against the facility in January by a coalition of legal advocates citing denial of basic medical care, inadequate nutrition, and inhumane treatment.
“Commissary services at ICE Processing Centers are provided by a third-party vendor and we work with all our vendors to ensure that prices are in line with comparable local markets,” said a GEO Group Spokesperson in a statement to L.A. TACO.
The organization referred L.A. TACO’s questions regarding the hunger strike to ICE.
“FALSE. There is no hunger strike at Adelanto,” said an ICE spokesperson in a statement to L.A. TACO.
“During hunger strikes, ICE continues to provide three meals a day, delivered to the detained alien’s room, and an adequate supply of drinking water or other beverages,” the agency told L.A. TACO.
“THIS IS FALSE REPORTING. There is no hunger strike or “economic strike” at Adelanto,” said a DHS Spokesperson in a statement to L.A. TACO.
The DHS spokesperson said that ICE continues to provide meals, drinking water, and other beverages even during hunger strikes.
L.A. TACO reporter Izzy Ramirez was originally connected with the anonymous source through community members.
