The city of Adelanto sent ICE and the private prison company GEO Group a letter yesterday confirming that the city will be ending its agreement with ICE and GEO to run the Adelanto ICE Processing Center, which is the largest ICE prison in the country.  This decision was made unilaterally by the city with no opportunity for public comment or community input. The city now has a responsibility to ensure the proper and just closure of the private immigrant prison.

As a result of this sudden move, the Sheriff has a responsibility to ensure a just and proper closure of the facility. A proper closure would ensure due process, access to counsel and the release of currently detained individuals so they can continue their cases on the outside through the help of community-based alternatives to detention within the next 120 days, before the contract ends.

Immigration advocates and medical experts are deeply concerned over the ongoing hunger strike at the El Paso Service Processing Center and the dire situation facing people held in indefinite detention, especially as their health deteriorates.

Immigration advocates in California and around the country are deeply alarmed over the legality of a newly announced $19 million contract between Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the GEO Group, Inc. to continue the operations of the Mesa Verde Detention Facility in Bakersfield, California.

The State Attorney General’s office released its first report today on immigration detention conditions in California, which found that immigrants face prolonged periods of confinement, significant language barriers, medical and mental health access issues, visitation and communication obstacles, and lack of access to legal representation.

Freedom for Immigrants is excited to introduce Liz Wilson and Elizabeth Torres, two new staff members who will be leading our Alternatives to Detention program as part of our mission to end U.S. immigration detention.

Over 70 legal service providers, advocacy organizations and community groups in Northern California are calling for transparency regarding the fate of individuals detained at the Mesa Verde ICE Processing Center (also referred to as the Mesa Verde Detention Facility).

Freedom for Immigrants is deeply alarmed by a report released by the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of the Inspector General, which found “serious issues relating to safety, security, and environmental health that require ICE’s immediate attention” at the Essex County Correctional Facility, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facility in Newark, New Jersey.