Volunteers seek to help those inside Adelanto, a private detention facility

The increased detention of immigrants nationwide under the Trump administration remains a highly controversial issue, impacting many families across Southern California.

Across our country there are public detention centers and then private — the private centers are owned and operated by third parties and contracted by the government. Because private centers have their own private staff and set of regulations, serious health and safety risks have been identified and investigated by Homeland Security in certain locations. One such center, Adelanto, is located not too far from the Coachella Valley.

Adelanto is a detention center managed and owned by the GEO Group, a private, multi-national prison contractor running 139 facilities worldwide. It’s currently under contract with ICE as a processing center and earning up to $112 a day for each of their nearly 2,000 detainees.

“Corporations should not be making a profit out of the suffering of others,” said Hilda Cruz, a Human Rights Activist & Faith Organizer, Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity. Cruz visits detainees regularly, hearing their accounts and hoping to shed light on conditions inside.

“They treat animals outside better than detainees inside the institutions of ICE,” said Rufino Ortuño, who spent months detained.

Within his first week at Adelanto, Rufino says he suffered from a terrible leg infection, which he attributes to poor hygienic conditions. “The truth is the pain was insufferable. I wouldn’t wish it on anyone,” said Ortuño.

He says he didn’t initially receive proper treatment, and that his fellow detainees protested on his behalf — refusing to go back in their cells until he was seen by a doctor. He says he was then placed in critical care and transferred to a hospital, where he was told his leg nearly needed amputation.

“If it wasn’t for my companions, I probably would not be able to tell you this story right now,” said Ortuño.

He says he was in the hospital for 20 days — with no communication with his wife, Marta, back at home. “Sometimes we felt that he was already dead because they weren’t telling us anything,” said Marta Martínez, Ortuño’s wife. “The suffering that I went through as his wife…to see the pain on my kid’s faces…everybody in there is going through so many things,” she said.

And Rufino is not alone in his experience. A few months back, reports of inhumane conditions inside Adelanto emerged — leading to a searing report by Homeland Security. The report says inspectors found nooses hanging from detainee cells, medical neglect, and unjust segregation.

We asked GEO about this, and the company sent a statement saying the nooses were actually bedsheets hung for privacy and outlining changes underway. In part, it reads: “We take full responsibility when faced with shortcomings and pledge to redouble our efforts to ensure safe and humane treatment in all of our facilities.”

While Adelanto states they have made improvements, Hilda Cruz and a group of volunteers visiting Adelanto regularly, are being told that conditions inside are still bleak. The group meets weekly, strategizing how to help.

“People who are outspoken are given drugs to sleep more,” said one volunteer, recalling a conversation with a female detainee inside. She says one of the biggest obstacles for those inside is finding legal representation and assistance on the outside. “The problem here, is she doesn’t have a lawyer. And that’s the problem in all of these cases,” said another volunteer. “Can you imagine being in a Mexican jail? Alone? And you don’t know the language?”

The volunteers say they’re often the only form of contact some detainees have with the outside world.

Cruz tells us about her visit with a detainee inside named Jose: she says he’s a Marine living with PTSD. “He’s ill. And because of the lack of medical availability inside the GEO facility, he hasn’t been taken care of,” said Cruz.

Cruz and other volunteers say their biggest challenge is finding legal and financial resources to help represent people inside. To donate, click here. And to get in contact with their group, you can email hcruz@im4humanintegrity.org

You can read the full statement and response from Adelanto detailing the investigation and changes they say have been made inside here: