Adams County MS — CoreCivic ICE Detention Center: Homicide, Oversight Blocked
The Fight
The Adams County Correctional Center (ACCC), operated by CoreCivic near Natchez, Mississippi, is the second-largest ICE detention facility in the United States — capable of holding up to 2,500 people, with an average daily population around 2,244. It operates under a federal contract paying approximately $3.9 million per month to CoreCivic, a publicly traded private prison corporation that reported nearly $2.2 billion in total revenue in 2025, with revenue growing nearly $200 million between fiscal years 2024 and 2025 as ICE detention expansion accelerated.
The facility has a documented history of severe conditions, a 2012 guard death during a prisoner uprising, an internationally reported torture complaint, and a 2025 in-custody death ruled a homicide. Congressional oversight has been blocked. The ACLU has called for shutdown.
Adams County has a population of fewer than 30,000 people. CoreCivic employs approximately 400 staff at the facility and is the county’s largest taxpayer.
In-Custody Death: Delvin Francisco Rodriguez
Delvin Francisco Rodriguez, 39, a Nicaraguan national, was a detainee at ACCC when he was found unresponsive in his cell at approximately 4:15 p.m. on December 4, 2025. Staff initiated CPR and lifesaving measures. He was transferred to Merit Health Natchez hospital, where he died on December 14, 2025. His death was ruled a homicide.
Rodriguez had agreed to voluntarily self-deport in September 2025 when he was arrested in Dillon, Colorado, and was reportedly scheduled for removal the day before his death. According to ICE’s initial account, Rodriguez hanged himself with a sheet. His family directly disputed this account.
Nurses who treated Rodriguez told his family that his injuries were inconsistent with hanging — including a forehead wound that could not be explained by the hanging narrative. Family members reported Rodriguez had shown no signs of suicidal ideation and had been in regular contact with relatives about his return plans. They questioned why he had been moved from the large communal housing unit where he normally stayed to an isolated cell.
Rodriguez’s death on December 14 was the fourth ICE custody death in four days nationally. ICE reported 33 in-custody deaths for all of 2025, the highest annual total since the agency was formed — making 2025 the deadliest year for ICE detainees in over two decades.
Conditions and Oversight
Rep. Thompson’s April 9, 2026 Visit
Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS-02), who represents the district containing the facility, visited ACCC on April 9, 2026 and counted approximately 1,400 detainees present. His visit documented a direct discrepancy between what CoreCivic told Congress and what he observed:
- CoreCivic claimed the facility was fully medically staffed
- Detainees reported only two doctors on staff
- Thompson himself observed no doctors during the visit
Thompson joined a Democratic lawsuit against the Trump administration challenging the blocking of congressional oversight access to ICE detention facilities — a core accountability fight as deaths and complaints have mounted nationally.
Approximately 90% of people detained at ACCC have not been charged with any crime. The average detention period is around 60 days, though some detainees have been held for up to seven months.
2021 DHS Inspection Findings
A Department of Homeland Security inspection in 2021 found deficiencies including inadequate medical care, delayed grievance responses, and insufficient COVID-19 protocols — findings that presaged the 2025 homicide.
ACLU Position
The American Civil Liberties Union has called for the facility’s immediate closure, citing the Rodriguez homicide ruling and ongoing documentation of preventable deaths and inadequate medical care across the ICE detention system. An ACLU investigation found that 95% of in-custody deaths were “preventable or possibly preventable if ICE had provided clinically appropriate medical care.”
Facility History
2012 Uprising
In May 2012, a major uprising at ACCC resulted in the death of Corrections Officer Catlin Hugh Carithers and injuries to 16 additional staff and 3 prisoners; 25 employees were taken hostage. An FBI affidavit attributed the uprising directly to detainee “protests against the abysmal food and medical care provided at the facility.” The FBI investigated, and prisoners were subsequently charged and sentenced.
The 2012 riot is notable because it established in documented federal record that conditions at ACCC had been severely inadequate for over a decade before the 2025 homicide.
“Zulu” Solitary Unit
One section of ACCC, known as the “Zulu” unit, contains solitary confinement cells used as punishment housing. Detainees assigned to Zulu are isolated from the general population. The unit has been cited in human rights complaints as a site of particular abuse.
2020 Cameroonian Torture Complaint
In 2020, two nonprofit human rights organizations submitted a written complaint to ICE and the Department of Homeland Security alleging that immigrants from Cameroon were tortured by ICE officers in the Zulu unit and forced to sign deportation documents under duress. The complaint drew international attention given the high-profile nature of Cameroon’s political crisis and the targeted nationalities involved. No public accountability action resulted.
Facility Profile
| Field | Detail |
|---|---|
| Operator | CoreCivic Inc. (Nashville, TN) |
| Contract type | Federal ICE contract |
| Contract value | ~$3.9 million/month |
| Capacity | 2,500 |
| Avg. daily population | ~2,244 |
| Staff | ~400 |
| Status | Second-largest ICE facility in the U.S. |
| In operation (ICE) | 2019–present (opened 2009 under BOP) |
CoreCivic has owned the facility since 2007, opened it under a Bureau of Prisons contract in 2009, and transitioned it to ICE use in 2019.
Key Actors
- CoreCivic Inc.: Facility operator; publicly traded; $2.2B revenue in 2025
- Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS-02): Oversight visit April 9, 2026; party to Democratic oversight lawsuit
- ACLU: Calling for shutdown; conducted systemic deaths investigation
- Delvin Francisco Rodriguez: 39-year-old Nicaraguan detainee; death ruled homicide December 14, 2025
- ICE: Contracting agency; blocked congressional oversight access
- Trump administration: Defending against Democratic oversight lawsuit
Sources
- Mississippi Today: A man died in a Mississippi ICE facility. Do we know everything we need to know? (April 10, 2026)
- Mississippi Today: What we know about one of the nation’s largest ICE facilities (March 27, 2026)
- Mississippi Today: Q&A — Rep. Bennie Thompson on his visit to Adams County ICE facility (April 17, 2026)
- Verite News: A man died in a Mississippi ICE facility. Do we know everything we need to know? (April 10, 2026)
- Verite News: Q&A — Bennie Thompson on his visit to Adams County ICE facility (April 17, 2026)
- Mississippi Free Press: Nicaraguan Man in ICE Custody Dies in Mississippi Hospital
- Mississippi Today: Nicaraguan dead after detention in Mississippi ICE facility (December 22, 2025)
- DeSoto County News: Mississippi’s Adams County ICE Facility Under Scrutiny
- ICE Detainee Death Report: FRANCISCO Rodriguez, Delvin
- Wikipedia: Adams County Correctional Center