Over 60 ICE Detainees On Hunger Strike At SoCal Facilities: Reports

ADELANTO, CA — Over 60 detainees at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facilities in Adelanto are on a hunger strike, protesting what they say are inadequate food and medical care, according to reports.

More than 40 detainees at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center began the strike on Friday, while another 20 at the neighboring Desert View Annex joined them as of Tuesday, according to the San Bernardino Sun, which added that several were threatened with solitary confinement for striking.

Subscribe

“The food I wouldn’t feed to my neighbor’s dog. …The facility is dirty,” one detainee, whose name was withheld due to concerns about retaliation, told the newspaper. “The treatment, the names we are called … No one should have to go through this.”

Several detainees were in communication with the Southern California News Group, according to the Sun.

The strike comes as the California Department of Justice last week released a 175-page report on immigration detention in the state, noting six detainees died in ICE custody between September 2025 and March 2026 — the highest number since the department started conducting reviews in 2017.

“During their inspections, my team found evidence of inadequate medical care and heard countless reports of disturbing, unsafe, and unsanitary conditions and a lack of basic necessities,'' Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a statement.

The department said it identified multiple violations of ICE's own detention standards relating to conditions of confinement and basic medical health care at all seven active facilities in 2025, although there was variation in detainee experience across these facilities.

The department also found worsening conditions for detainees who were experiencing inadequate medical care, delay in medical treatment, overcrowding, inadequate food, excessive use of force by detention facility guards and inadequate clothing, violating standards such as those guaranteeing nutritious meals, an adequate environment, reasonable uses of force and adequate medical care.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security denied to the Sun that there is a hunger strike at the Adelanto facilities.

“No lawbreakers in the history of human civilization have been treated better than illegal aliens in the United States,'' the homeland security department said in a statement that was quoted in a City News Service story about Bonta’s immigration detention report.

“It is a longstanding practice to provide comprehensive medical care from the moment an alien enters ICE custody. This includes medical, dental and mental health intake screening within 12 hours of arriving at each detention facility, a full health assessment within 14 days of entering ICE custody or arrival at a facility and access to medical appointments and 24-hour emergency care."

The statement also noted that meals are certified by dieticians.
In the state report, the justice department determined the detainee population in California grew 162 percent, from 2,300 to more than 6,000 detainees between site visits in 2023 and those last year. Most detainees had no criminal history and were classified as low security.

“A hunger strike is not a first resort,” Caleb Soto, a lawyer with the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, said, according to LAist. "It's what people do when every other option has been taken from them.”

Earlier in 2026, immigrant rights groups sued on behalf of detainees in federal court, seeking better conditions at Adelanto, LAist reported, adding the groups have sought an emergency court order and a hearing is set for July 10.

City News Service contributed to this story.