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Los Angeles Times
13 hours ago
- Politics
- Los Angeles Times
Unsanitary, overcrowded and inhumane: Surge of new detainees at Adelanto brings dire conditions, critics say
ADELANTO, Calif. — As federal immigration agents conduct mass raids across Southern California, the Adelanto ICE Processing Center is filling so rapidly it is reigniting longtime concerns about safety conditions inside the facility. In less than two months, the number of detainees in the sprawling complex about 85 miles northeast of Los Angeles has surged from around 300 near the end of April to more than 1,200 as of Wednesday, according to the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California. The largest detention center in California, Adelanto has for years been the focus of complaints from detainees, attorneys and state and federal inspectors about inadequate medical care, overly restrictive segregation and lax mental health services. But now, critics — including some staff who work inside — warn that conditions inside have become increasingly unsafe and unsanitary. The facility, they say, is woefully unprepared to handle a massive increase in the number of detainees. 'It's dangerous,' a longtime Adelanto detention center staff member told The Times, speaking on condition of anonymity because they did not want to lose their job. 'We have no staffing for this and not enough experienced staff. They're just cutting way too many corners, and it affects the safety of everybody in there.' On Tuesday, U.S. Rep Judy Chu (D-Monterey Park), toured Adelanto with four other Democratic members of Congress from California amid growing concern over the rapidly increasing number of detainees and deteriorating conditions inside the facility. The facility's manager 'has to clearly improve its treatment of these detainees,' Chu said at a news conference after inspecting the facility for nearly two hours. Some detainees told lawmakers they were held inside Adelanto for 10 days without a change of clothes, underwear or towels, Chu said. Others said they had been denied access to a telephone to speak to loved ones and lawyers, even after repeatedly filling out forms. 'I was just really shocked to hear that they couldn't get a change of underwear, they couldn't get socks for 10 days,' Chu told The Times. 'They can't get the PIN number for a telephone call. What about their legal rights? What about the ability to be in contact with their families? That is inhumane.' Immigration Customs and Enforcement and GEO Group, the Florida-based private prison corporation that manages the Adelanto detention center, did not answer The Times' questions about staffing or conditions inside the facility. The Times also sent questions to Homeland Security assistant secretary for public affairs Tricia McLaughlin, but they were not answered. Over the last two weeks, new detainees have been forced to sleep on the floors of common areas without blankets and pillows and have spent days in the facility before they were provided with clean clothes and underwear, according to interviews with current detention center staff, immigration attorneys, and members of Congress who toured the facility. Some detainees have complained about lack of access to medication, lack of access to drinking water for four hours, and being served dinner as late as 10 p.m. One detainee was not allowed his high blood pressure pills when family tried to bring it in, said Jennifer Norris, a staff attorney at Immigrant Defenders Law Center. In some cases, she said, lax medical care has led to emergencies: a Vietnamese man passed out last week because staff didn't provide him with his necessary medication. 'It's clear that with the ramp up enforcement, Adelanto just does not have the staff to keep pace with the aggressive enforcement that's happening now,' Norris said. 'It is bizarre. We spend millions of dollars on ICE detention and they're not even able to provide basic necessities for the new arrivals.' Long before Trump administration officials announced in May they were setting a new national goal of arresting 3,000 unauthorized immigrants a day, Adelanto workers worried about understaffing and unsafe conditions as the center processed new detainees. At the end of last year, the facility held only three people. As of Wednesday, the number had swelled to 1,218, according to the ACLU of Southern California. The climb is only partly due to the ICE agents' recent escalation of immigrant raids. The 1,940-bed Adelanto facility has been operating at a dramatically reduced capacity since 2020 when civil rights groups filed a class-action lawsuit demanding a drastic reduction in the number of people detained at Adelanto on the basis that they faced severe risk of contracting COVID-19. A federal judge forced the detention center to release detainees and prohibit new intakes and transfers. But a series of federal court orders this year — the most recent in early June — has allowed the facility to fully reopen just as federal immigration agents fan out into neighborhoods and workplaces. 'As soon as the judge lifted the order, they just started slamming people in there,' an Adelanto staffer told The Times. Eva Bitrán, director of immigrant rights at the ACLU of Southern California, said 'almost everybody' held in the Adelanto facility had no criminal record before they arrived in the detention center. 'But even if they had a criminal record, even if they had served their time in criminal custody and then been brought to the ICE facility, nobody deserves 10 days in the same underwear,' Bitrán said. 'Nobody deserves dirty showers, nobody deserves moldy food.' Mario Romero, an Indigenous worker from Mexico who was detained June 6 at the Ambiance Apparel warehouse in downtown L.A., was one of dozens who ended up in Adelanto. His daughter, Yurien Contreras, said she and her family were traumatized after her father was 'chained by the hands, feet and waist,' taken to the Metropolitan Detention Center downtown and then 'held hostage' in a van from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. with no access to water, food or a restroom. 'Little did we know,' she said, 'it was only the beginning of the inhumane treatment our families would endure.' At Adelanto, she said, officials try to force her father to sign documents without due process or legal representation. The medical care was 'less than minimal,' she said, the food was unsustainable and the water tasted like Clorox. Lucero Garcia told The Times she was concerned about her 61-year-old uncle, Candido, who was detained June 9 as he worked at his job at Magnolia Car Wash in Fountain Valley. But when she visited him Saturday, 'he didn't want to share much,' she said. 'He's worried more about us.' This is not the first time the Adelanto detention center has faced scrutiny. In 2018, federal inspectors issued a report finding 'serious violations' at the facility, including overly restrictive detainee segregation and guards failing to stop detainees from hanging braided bed sheet 'nooses.' Five years later, current and former Adelanto detainees filed a class-action lawsuit against GEO Group, alleging the company 'systematically poisoned' inmates by improperly using toxic chemicals to clean the detention center. GEO Group has denied the claims in the class-action suit. In April, the California Department of Justice released a report that found all of the state's six privately operated immigration detention facilities, including Adelanto, fell short in providing mental health care for detainees, medical record keeping, suicide prevention strategies, and use of force against detainees with mental health conditions. But two staffers who spoke to The Times said they had never experienced such unsafe conditions at Adelanto. As the prison population has increased over the last few months, they said, staff are working long hours without breaks, some even falling asleep driving home after their shifts and having car accidents. Shift duty officers with no security experience were being asked to make decisions in the middle of the night about whether to put detainees who felt threatened in protective custody. Officers, including people from food service, were being sent to the hospital to check on detainees with tuberculosis and hepatitis. 'Everyone's just overwhelmed,' a staffer said. Officers working over their allotted schedules were often tired when they were on duty, another staffer said. In May, a detainee went into anaphylactic shock and ended up intubated in the hospital, the staffer said, because an officer wasn't paying attention or was new and gave the detainee, who's allergic to seafood, a tray that contained tuna. At a May meeting, the warden told all executive staff that they needed to come to work dressed down on Tuesdays and Thursdays, the staffer said, because they would have to start doing janitorial work. On June 2, a detainee at the Annex facility made his way from a medical holding area, through four locked doors, all the way back to his dorm unescorted, the staffer said — a major security breach. 'If he would've wanted to escape he would've been gone,' the staffer said. 'All he did is push the buttons to access the doors and they were open for him, no questions. Apparently, whoever was in central control was too tired to check or too inexperienced.' The detention center was becoming unsanitary, the staffer said, with trash bins not promptly emptied, bathrooms not cleaned and floors not mopped as they should be. As new waves of detainees flooded into the facility over the last two weeks, the staffer said, the facility was chaotic and lacking basic supplies. 'We didn't have enough to provide right away,' they said, 'so we're scrambling to get clothes and mattresses.' Mark Ferretiz, who worked as a cook supervisor at Adelanto for 14 years until April, said former colleagues told him officers were working 16- to 20-hour shifts multiple days in a row without breaks, officers were slow to respond to physical fights between detainees, and food was limited for detainees. 'They had five years to prepare,' Ferretiz, who had served as a union steward, said of his former supervisors. 'I don't know the reason why they weren't prepared.' While the supply shortages appeared to ease some in recent days — a shipment of clothes and mattresses had arrived by Tuesday, when members of Congress toured — the detention center was still understaffed, the current staffer said. Detainees were being served food on paper clam-shell to-go boxes, rather than regular trays, a staffer said, because the facility lacked employees to wash up at the end of mealtimes. 'Trash pickup's not coming fast enough, ' a staffer said, noting that piles of trash sat outside, bagged up, beside the dumpsters. In a statement last week, GEO Group Executive Chairman George C. Zoley said fully opening the Adelanto facility would allow his company to generate about $31 million in additional annualized revenues. 'We are proud of our approximately 350 employees at the Adelanto Center, whose dedication and professionalism have allowed GEO to establish a long-standing record of providing high-quality support services on behalf of ICE in the state of California,' Zoley said. But after touring the facility, members of Congress said officials did not provide answers to basic questions. When Chu asked officials about whether California immigrants were being taken to other states, she said, they said, 'We don't know.'
CNN
5 days ago
- Health
- CNN
How to be a dad to sons today, according to experts
Ideals of manhood for many people have changed. In previous generations, being a man meant you provided for your family financially, remained stoic and independent, and rejected parts of yourself with feelings and needs, said Dr. Daniel Singley, a licensed psychologist and founder of the Center for Men's Excellence in San Diego. However, many of today's men who become dads are looking at that model and deciding it doesn't work for them, Singley said. The male loneliness epidemic, a crisis of connection, toxic masculinity –– there are many terms for what men are experiencing in the United States, but it is clear that some are struggling when it comes to mental health. Addressing these mental health concerns and teaching the next generation of boys to become happy, healthy men will take a group effort, said Dr. John Delony, who hosts a mental health podcast and who has a doctorate in counselor education and supervision. 'It's going to take a group of guys like me and older to identify guys and give them resources and say, 'It's OK to feel lost, it's OK to weep, it's OK to go ask for help — in fact you have to,' he said. 'You have to learn that the rules of the game have changed … and that's not a bad thing. But you've got to get some new skills.' Dads have an important part to play in the development of the next generation of boys, said Judy Yi-Chung Chu, who teaches a class on boys' psychological development at Stanford University. When studying children at school, Chu noticed that young males quickly absorbed a message that they shouldn't be mama's boys, and so they stopped showing affection to their mothers at the school drop-off, she said. But then there were the dads. Sitting cross-legged on the floor, dads would be more likely to have their sons in their lap, playing and cuddling, she said. Some of the other boys would even go up to their friends' dads to climb all over them, Chu said. 'There was just this opportunity with a father-son dynamic to really nurture,' she said. 'If the boys are starting to learn that they're not supposed to be girls and they're not supposed to be too much like their mothers, or too close to their mothers, then the father really can step in.' Engaging in this kind of play and affection shows boys that warmth, kindness and love aren't just feminine qualities –– dads do it, too, Chu said. A lot of the power for dads comes in the form of modeling. As much as dads can teach their sons directly and guide them in the world, they also provide an example of who their children can aim to be as they grow up, Singley said. 'There are going to be the times when as the dad I'm going to screw up,' he said. 'Then I'm able to go to my son and model for him, taking ownership of that — a direct apology, where I name my behavior and I talk about, 'Hey, I probably looked angry to you. I just want you to know I was also feeling kind of hurt or confused or anxious.'' When many people think of a real man, they see some cartoonish figure of masculinity such as Rambo or Superman, Chu said. Instead, she suggests offering boys examples of good men to look up to. 'When you think of a good man, usually that brings it closer,' she said. A good man is usually 'my uncle, my teacher, my coach –– somebody I really admire, and I can relate to.' If you want to raise your boys to be happy and healthy, does that mean you have to opt out of all the traditional masculine ideals? Not necessarily, Singley said. It is important that we don't swap the message that the only way to be a man is to be aggressive and isolated for one that the only way to be a man is to be sensitive, Chu said. Either way, many boys are being told that there is a limit on who they can be and still be accepted, she said. And there are plenty of areas where traditional ideals of masculinity, such as protection and providing, are appropriate and helpful, Singley said. 'The problem is, then the father tries to only be that version of a man in all circumstances,' he said. 'What most of the research shows is that the ability to be balanced and flexible — to be a traditional guy in one setting, but in another, focus on empathy, compassion, accepting influence from someone else — translates to significantly better psychological and physical health.' Sometimes, what a dad needs to provide isn't money — it is attunement or care. And sometimes the best way to protect your family is to have an open, emotionally honest conversation, he said. 'Times are changing, and we don't want to be as restrictive or constraining,' Chu said. Delony has a 15-year-old son, and he is aware that he only has three more summers left before he sends his son out into the world, he said. What Delony is hoping to instill in that time are lessons about how his son should care for himself and others. 'He's got to be able to provide for himself, and he's got to be able to cocreate a world with his partner moving forward. He's got keep his eyes open for people he can serve, people he could take care of. He needs to be a net positive in the world and not a net drain on it,' Delony said. 'He's got to learn some sort of emotional IQ so that he can go into different situations –– whether it's a boardroom, it's a war room or it's a wedding room –– and be able to navigate those with sophistication and in ways that he can love other people.'
CNN
5 days ago
- Health
- CNN
How to be a dad to sons today, according to experts
Ideals of manhood for many people have changed. In previous generations, being a man meant you provided for your family financially, remained stoic and independent, and rejected parts of yourself with feelings and needs, said Dr. Daniel Singley, a licensed psychologist and founder of the Center for Men's Excellence in San Diego. However, many of today's men who become dads are looking at that model and deciding it doesn't work for them, Singley said. The male loneliness epidemic, a crisis of connection, toxic masculinity –– there are many terms for what men are experiencing in the United States, but it is clear that some are struggling when it comes to mental health. Addressing these mental health concerns and teaching the next generation of boys to become happy, healthy men will take a group effort, said Dr. John Delony, who hosts a mental health podcast and who has a doctorate in counselor education and supervision. 'It's going to take a group of guys like me and older to identify guys and give them resources and say, 'It's OK to feel lost, it's OK to weep, it's OK to go ask for help — in fact you have to,' he said. 'You have to learn that the rules of the game have changed … and that's not a bad thing. But you've got to get some new skills.' Dads have an important part to play in the development of the next generation of boys, said Judy Yi-Chung Chu, who teaches a class on boys' psychological development at Stanford University. When studying children at school, Chu noticed that young males quickly absorbed a message that they shouldn't be mama's boys, and so they stopped showing affection to their mothers at the school drop-off, she said. But then there were the dads. Sitting cross-legged on the floor, dads would be more likely to have their sons in their lap, playing and cuddling, she said. Some of the other boys would even go up to their friends' dads to climb all over them, Chu said. 'There was just this opportunity with a father-son dynamic to really nurture,' she said. 'If the boys are starting to learn that they're not supposed to be girls and they're not supposed to be too much like their mothers, or too close to their mothers, then the father really can step in.' Engaging in this kind of play and affection shows boys that warmth, kindness and love aren't just feminine qualities –– dads do it, too, Chu said. A lot of the power for dads comes in the form of modeling. As much as dads can teach their sons directly and guide them in the world, they also provide an example of who their children can aim to be as they grow up, Singley said. 'There are going to be the times when as the dad I'm going to screw up,' he said. 'Then I'm able to go to my son and model for him, taking ownership of that — a direct apology, where I name my behavior and I talk about, 'Hey, I probably looked angry to you. I just want you to know I was also feeling kind of hurt or confused or anxious.'' When many people think of a real man, they see some cartoonish figure of masculinity such as Rambo or Superman, Chu said. Instead, she suggests offering boys examples of good men to look up to. 'When you think of a good man, usually that brings it closer,' she said. A good man is usually 'my uncle, my teacher, my coach –– somebody I really admire, and I can relate to.' If you want to raise your boys to be happy and healthy, does that mean you have to opt out of all the traditional masculine ideals? Not necessarily, Singley said. It is important that we don't swap the message that the only way to be a man is to be aggressive and isolated for one that the only way to be a man is to be sensitive, Chu said. Either way, many boys are being told that there is a limit on who they can be and still be accepted, she said. And there are plenty of areas where traditional ideals of masculinity, such as protection and providing, are appropriate and helpful, Singley said. 'The problem is, then the father tries to only be that version of a man in all circumstances,' he said. 'What most of the research shows is that the ability to be balanced and flexible — to be a traditional guy in one setting, but in another, focus on empathy, compassion, accepting influence from someone else — translates to significantly better psychological and physical health.' Sometimes, what a dad needs to provide isn't money — it is attunement or care. And sometimes the best way to protect your family is to have an open, emotionally honest conversation, he said. 'Times are changing, and we don't want to be as restrictive or constraining,' Chu said. Delony has a 15-year-old son, and he is aware that he only has three more summers left before he sends his son out into the world, he said. What Delony is hoping to instill in that time are lessons about how his son should care for himself and others. 'He's got to be able to provide for himself, and he's got to be able to cocreate a world with his partner moving forward. He's got keep his eyes open for people he can serve, people he could take care of. He needs to be a net positive in the world and not a net drain on it,' Delony said. 'He's got to learn some sort of emotional IQ so that he can go into different situations –– whether it's a boardroom, it's a war room or it's a wedding room –– and be able to navigate those with sophistication and in ways that he can love other people.'
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Rep. Chu: No word from Sen. Thune on Sen. Padilla's forcible removal from Noem's press conference
Congresswoman Judy Chu joins The Weekend to discuss the arrival of around 200 Marines in Los Angeles and the forcible removal of Senator Alex Padilla at Secretary Noem's press conference this week.
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Rep. Chu: Trump's ICE raids started the LA protests
(NewsNation) — A curfew has been set in the city of Los Angeles as protests over recent ICE raids continue into a fifth day. In response to the protests, President Donald Trump deployed National Guard troops to the area and the Pentagon sent in 700 active-duty U.S. Marines. California Gov. Gavin Newsom and state Attorney General Rob Bonta sued the Trump administration for the deployment. ICE raids won't stop despite protests: DHS spokesperson Newsom did not request troops in LA, and the state's lawsuit says there was neither a 'rebellion' nor an 'invasion' — conditions that are supposedly necessary for a president to take command of a state's National Guard troops — and that there was no possibility of either happening. In response to the unrest going on, California Rep. Judy Chu, a Democrat, said while she does not believe looting and violence by bad actors is OK, the ICE raids have also been unacceptable. 'Mass raids without warrants has been what has started this whole thing,' Chu said. 'It was started by Donald Trump.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
