President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown has led to an increase in raids carried out by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), resulting in myriad human rights abuses — including the abuse and neglect of disabled immigrants in federal custody.
In June, the largest disability rights group in the nation, Disability Rights California (DRC), conducted a monitoring visit at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center in California’s San Bernardino County after receiving reports that disabled people were being held in unsafe conditions.
The facility is run by the GEO Group, one of the largest private prison companies in the U.S. and one that has experienced a financial boon from the Trump administration’s soaring detention numbers. There are at least 59,700 immigrants in detention centers nationwide — a historic high — and many of these facilities are run by GEO, a company long synonymous with neglect, abuse, and in-custody deaths.
On Sept. 22, 39-year-old Ismael Ayala-Uribe died while detained at Adelanto. The Mexican immigrant and former recipient of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals was detained at the facility for a little more than a month before his in-custody death from unknown causes. Ayala-Uribe, who was apprehended as part of a workplace raid at an Orange County, California, car wash, was the 14th person to die in ICE custody this year.
According to DRC, about 300 immigrants were detained at Adelanto just before the group’s June visit. A few weeks later, when members of the organization revisited the facility, that number skyrocketed to nearly 1,400. The dramatic increase led the already abhorrent conditions inside to further deteriorate, according to DRC’s report released in July.
“They Treat Us Like Dogs in Cages: Inside the Adelanto ICE Processing Center” details the conditions immigrants have experienced inside the facility, including inadequate access to medical treatment; exposure to widespread respiratory illnesses; inadequate access to food and water; inadequate access to clean clothes, with many remaining in soiled clothing for long periods of time; and minimal opportunities to contact family.
“Further intensifying these issues, many of the people DRC interviewed had never experienced incarceration and felt overwhelmed and terrified by their confinement in a locked, jail-like facility,” the report noted.
Neither ICE nor GEO Group responded to Prism’s request for comment.
“Homeless, Incarcerated, or Dead”
While the Trump administration works overtime to criminalize all immigrant populations, disabled immigrants have been hit especially hard, though they rarely receive extensive media coverage.
As Prism previously reported, deaf immigrants in Los Angeles were particularly vulnerable during the raids that roiled the region this summer. Also in California, a Deaf asylum-seeker from Mongolia who has been detained at the Otay Mesa Detention Center since February never saw a judge or had the ability to communicate with anyone familiar with Mongolian Sign Language before being released in July.
More recently, the Houston Chronicle reported on the case of Emmanuel Gonzalez-Garcia. The 15-year-old autistic teen was reported missing by his mother on Oct. 4 after he wandered away from the corner where she sold fruit. After locating the teen, who has the cognitive ability of a 5-year-old, the Houston Police Department claimed that it could not locate a member of his family, so police instead contacted ICE. The teen is now in the custody of the Office of Refugee Resettlement, the federal agency responsible for detaining immigrant minors who are unaccompanied by adults.
Like in Gonzalez-Garcia’s case, disabled people and their families often can’t access the financial, educational, legal, or informational resources they need. Richard Diaz, senior attorney with the investigations unit at DRC, told Prism in an email that there are many cases in which “a person’s disabilities are not identified or tracked, leaving them without proper accommodations in immigration court proceedings and in immigration detention.”
Recent changes to federal public benefits by the Trump administration now also bar undocumented immigrants and even some green card holders from using certain services important for their health and well-being, KFF reported. This includes the federal Health Center Program, which funds a network of community health centers that provide a range of medical, behavioral, and supportive services to patients regardless of their ability to pay.
Mia Ives-Rublee, the senior director of the Center for American Progress’ Disability Justice Initiative, told Prism in an email that “the mishandling of undocumented individuals will likely exacerbate” the issues faced by a population that is more likely to be disabled or chronically ill. Examples of these violations include medical devices such as wheelchairs or inhalers being stripped away and immigrants being forced to go without their medications for weeks. A lack of showers and food and exposure to extreme temperatures inside detention centers can also exacerbate medical issues.
In June, prior to the release of DRC’s report, the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California also sounded the alarm on unsafe and unsanitary conditions inside Adelanto, the largest detention center in California. Democratic lawmakers who toured the facility over the summer said immigrants detained inside reported that they went 10 days without a change of clothes, underwear, or towels. Detention center employees even told the Los Angeles Times that the facility was unprepared to handle the recent surge in detained immigrants.
“It’s dangerous,” a longtime staffer told the publication, speaking on condition of anonymity. “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.”
But immigrants outside of detention also face serious issues accessing health care due to fear of immigration enforcement.
Historically, hospital administrators have the power to “medically deport” undocumented immigrants in critical condition who are unable to pay for their care. In California, ICE is now regularly appearing inside medical facilities, creating a chilling effect and potentially forcing disabled or other chronically ill immigrants to miss necessary appointments. If deported, disabled people also face “a lack of community support or infrastructure to help address their disability or chronic illness,” Ives-Rublee said. Without support or care, “these individuals may end up homeless, incarcerated, or dead,” she told Prism.
Since DRC published its report, Diaz said the organization followed up with ICE, which agreed to implement “remedies” based on DRC’s advocacy. However, after speaking to immigrants detained at the facility recently, it appears that “many of the same problems persist,” Diaz said.
As organizations like DRC advocate on behalf of the people currently detained inside Adelanto, there are ways people can help their disabled undocumented neighbors on the outside.
Ives-Rublee suggested checking on community members, verifying their needs, and offering aid, especially to prevent them from having to go to areas where ICE is confirmed to be carrying out raids and other immigration enforcement. She stressed that disability is a “Western idea,” and individuals who qualify as disabled under U.S. law may not identify as disabled. “They may be eligible for certain protections under the Americans with Disabilities Act or Rehabilitation Act even if they don’t self-identify,” Ives-Rublee said, which is why black and white questions about whether someone is disabled may not provide a true sense of a neighbor’s specific needs.
After obtaining consent from an individual or their family, community members can help neighbors with grocery shopping or even accompany them to certain medical appointments. You can also serve as a point of contact if an undocumented neighbor fears they may be detained and will require legal representation. If they don’t have a lawyer, Ives-Rublee also suggested seeking out legal aid, especially through a disability rights group in your state that may be able to help get a person released.
DRC developed a disability accommodations card that can be used in conjunction with a know your rights card. These can be shared with undocumented neighbors in case they interact with immigration or law enforcement.
While ICE’s unjust and often unlawful treatment of immigrants and people with disabilities will continue as long as the federal immigration agency exists, concerned people nationwide can also continue to fight back on behalf of their neighbors.
Prism is an independent and nonprofit newsroom led by journalists of color. We report from the ground up and at the intersections of injustice.
Before you go — An urgent appeal for your support
Truthout relies on individual donations to publish independent journalism, free from political and corporate influence. In fact, we’re almost entirely funded by readers like you.
Unfortunately, donations are down. At a moment when our journalism is most necessary, we are struggling to meet our operational costs due to worsening political censorship.
Truthout may end this month in the red without additional help, so we’ve launched a fundraiser. We have 10 days to hit our $50,000 goal. Please make a tax-deductible gift to Truthout at this critical time!