At least 20 migrants in the Desert View annex of the Adelanto ICE processing center began a hunger strike on Tuesday, according to a press release obtained by Annenberg Media. A coalition of immigration activist groups including Defend Migrants Alliance and non-profit organizations such as the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, took to Zoom for a virtual press conference early the following morning.
“There are many people suffering here,” the striking detainees said in a statement. “This is the only way we have to raise our voice. We hope there are no consequences, because there are older people who are suffering even more. This is a call to stop the suffering and to respect our dignity as human beings.”
The facility, which is operated by the GEO Group, has seen a significant influx of detainees in the last year. This has coincided with a declining quality of care. The press release from the detainees on strike also claims that there have been “four mishandled deaths in 2026 alone.” This is consistent with a report published this month by California’s Attorney General, Rob Bonta, which covered ICE detention facilities across the state.
The report’s release played a role in the detainees’ decision to go on hunger strike.
“Hunger strike is not the first resort,” said Caleb Soto, an attorney with the National Day Laborer Organizing Network. “It’s what people do when every other option has been taken from them.”
The detainees on hunger strike have demands: Bond reform, accountability for attempted suicides and deaths, the right to organize and communicate with advocates, improved conditions including mold removal, water quality, medical care and proper diet and nutrition, as well as, ultimately, the shut down of Adelanto and the Desert View Annex.
Eva’s husband, Luis, is one of the detainees currently on strike. He spent five months in the Adelanto processing center, but he has spent the last two months in the Desert View Annex. The Defend Migrants Alliance asked that detainees and family members be identified only by first name for the safety of those involved.
“He has to convince people that we’re actually out here,” Eva said, referring to the organizers trying to make change. “Some people have given up hope.”
Luis sustained a work injury about a year ago, which cost him one of his fingers and caused severe nerve damage that now radiates to his elbow, affecting mobility. He was supposed to start physical therapy just weeks before he was detained.
Inside, he alleges that his medical care is far from adequate. When he had a cough, Eva said her husband reportedly received two tylenol, some breath mints, and salt to gargle with water.
According to the state’s report, Adelanto and Desert View Annex have a maximum capacity for 2,690 beds. Between visits by California’s Department of Justice in 2023 and 2025, the number of detainees grew from 424 to 2,087.
In the past, the number of detainees was manageable in part because individuals could be released on bond. That is no longer the case.
“The bond system…has been systematically dismantled,” Soto points out. “The Trump administration declared that anyone entering without papers were ineligible for bond, regardless of record, family or ties to the community. Hundreds of courts found that policy illegal, but ICE and the immigration judges at Adelanto kept applying it anyway.”
This influx began in June of 2025, when Adelanto received 621 detainees over a three day period. Both Adelanto and Desert View were severely understaffed, meaning detainees were not given appropriate physical, psychological or dental examinations upon intake.
Several detainees described being held in the intake area for multiple days due to understaffing.
“They’re not there to help people at all. It’s not a humane place,” said Quoc.
His brother, Tom, a Vietnamese migrant, was detained two days before Thanksgiving during a routine check-in. He was held in Adelanto for six months. According to Quoc, his brother told him that detainees seeking medical care were often chained to beds. For nutrition, meals allegedly only contained meat once a week; otherwise, tofu or other substitutes were used.
Water quality was also substandard and meals were “improperly cooked at inconvenient and inconsistent times, occasionally conflicting with detainees’ scheduled recreation times,” according to the state’s report. Detainees claimed that they did not have access to proper bedding or blankets, using trash bags instead.
According to the report, the state DOJ requested information on staffing at the facility in early July 2025. When the facility administrator failed to provide such data, the state made a second request three weeks later. The GEO Group, who operate the facility, has still not produced staffing reports, as of publication. In September of last year, the ICE Office of Detention Oversight (ODO) claimed to employ 439 “support personnel,” a designation the ODO itself did not define in its report.
Annenberg Media reached out to the Department of Homeland Security and GEO Group for comment but did not receive a response before publication.
As a call to action, the Defend Migrants Alliance is encouraging people to join their groups, to contribute to the commissary funds for detainees at Adelanto or Desert View and to call their representatives.