Overview

The Adelanto ICE Processing Center and its adjacent Desert View Annex form the largest ICE detention complex in California, with 2,690 beds operated by GEO Group in the High Desert of San Bernardino County. The facility has become a focal point of the national detention conditions crisis, with multiple deaths, a major federal lawsuit, and a tripling of solitary confinement.

Key Details

• Capacity: 2,690 beds (main facility + Desert View Annex)
• Current population: ~1,786 as of November 2025
• Operator: GEO Group (for-profit)
• Annual contract value: $142M+ from ICE
• Population surge: From 7 detainees in 2023 to 1,570 in 2025

Deaths in Custody

• Ismael Ayala-Uribe, 39, DACA recipient — died September 2025
• Gabriel Garcia-Aviles, 56 — died October 2025 (detained only ~1 week)
• Jose Guadalupe Ramos-Solano — died March 25, 2026 (14th national ICE death of 2026)

Conditions

• Solitary confinement tripled: 14 people in May 2025 to 105 by August 2025
• CA AG Bonta report: Staffing levels have not kept pace with population surge; conditions deteriorated
• Federal lawsuit (January 2026): Coalition of immigrant advocacy groups alleges medical neglect, inhumane conditions, systemic abuse, failure to provide basic care, food, water, sanitary conditions
• Detainee letters: Describe isolation, chronic medical conditions going untreated, no specialist access

Sources

• ABC7 — Federal lawsuit alleges inhumane conditions
• Austin Kocher — ICE Reports 14th Death of 2026 at Adelanto
• LA Public Press — Immigrants denounce lack of medical care
• CA AG — Inhumane Conditions at Adelanto
• LA Today — Solitary confinement spike
• KVCR — Letters describe isolation, medical concerns