Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facilities in Southern California are only operating at 0.3% capacity due to an “outdated” COVID-19 court order — and the federal government is doing nothing to boost operations, The Post has learned.
The center in Adelanto, about 80 miles northeast of Los Angeles, had the capacity to hold 1,940 immigrants but is currently housing only six, an ICE spokeswoman confirmed Thursday.
In 2020, a judge blocked the facility from accepting more immigrants after a lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security demanded reduced intake during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The court order is intended to allow detainees to “maintain a social distance of six feet from each other at all times and in all places, including when sleeping, eating, bathing, and performing other daily activities.”
The facility was “fully funded” by “taxpayer resources,” but continued to hold only a handful of immigrants even after the national coronavirus emergency was lifted by President Biden, Rep. Jay Obernolte (R-Calif.) wrote in an Oct. 3 letter to ICE.
Immigrant detainees pray during a prayer group in the general population block at the Adelanto Detention Facility on November 15, 2013.Getty Images
According to Obernolte, whose district includes the facility, nothing has been done since his letter to correct the issue.
“Despite ICE claiming it does not have the space in the facility to comply with the rule of law and properly process illegal immigrants, the ICE Adelanto Processing Center in my district is 99% underutilized with over 1,900 beds empty due to outdated, COVID-related conditions. injunction by the district judge,” said the representative in a statement to The Post.
“The administration declared the COVID-19 emergency to end on May 11 this year. The federal government’s reliance on ‘catch and release’ has forced states, counties and cities across the country to declare states of emergency because of the financial burden it has placed on our local communities. It is time for ICE and DOJ to remedy this situation and return the Adelanto ICE Processing Center to normal use,” Obernolte added.
Imprisoned immigrants are seen at the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Adelanto Detention Facility near the border of the “green zone”, an area designated by the city for the development of industrial-scale marijuana cultivation, on September 6, 2016 in Adelanto, California. AFP via Getty Images
The call to step up operations at the underutilized facility comes as cities across the country are struggling to keep up with the influx of immigrants. In July, migrants were pictured sleeping on the sidewalk outside a temporary shelter that had reached capacity in New York City.
Mayor Eric Adams and his four big-city colleagues have requested $5 billion from the federal government to handle the influx of migrants, but have yet to receive any such commitment from the White House.
As a presidential candidate in 2020, Biden pledged to end for-profit detention centers. His efforts have been hampered in part by record-breaking numbers of immigrants crossing the southern border during his administration, culminating in more than 2.4 million encounters in fiscal year 2023, according to US Customs and Border Protection data.
A guard escorts an immigrant detainee from his ‘isolation cell’ back into the general population at the Adelanto Detention Facility on November 15, 2013 in Adelanto, California.Getty Images
The Adelanto facility — which is run by a private company — is one of the centers ICE has proposed Biden administration officials to downsize or close in 2022 to potentially save $235 million, according to a leaked memo obtained by Reuters.
“Due to ongoing litigation, we are unable to comment further,” an ICE spokesperson told The Post.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
