The government\u2019s response, filed just ahead of Thursday\u2019s deadline for a long-term improvement plan, was short on details and included pushback. Lawyers for the federal government notified the court they plan to appeal the order<\/a> to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and asked the court to hold off on enforcing the July 16 order<\/a> until that appeal is decided.<\/p>\n What we know:<\/p>\n According to filings<\/a>, the defendants and plaintiffs have agreed on candidates for a monitor to keep an eye on overall conditions at the facility. They have not agreed on a monitor to focus on medical conditions. The government has proposed two candidates in court filings<\/a>.In their remediation plan, federal officials told the court that the privately run facility is already in compliance with several of the standards set in the court order, including providing timely diagnostic testing for health issues, ensuring continuous access to over-the-counter and prescribed medications and informing people held at the facility of their patients\u2019 rights.<\/p>\n Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials said in their filed plan that they have been reviewing the contract with The GEO Group, which runs Adelanto, and will work to bring the facility into compliance with the full court order.<\/p>\n Reaction to the latest developments<\/p>\n A spokesperson for GEO referred LAist to ICE for comment.<\/p>\n In an emailed, unsigned statement, the Department of Homeland Security said claims that conditions at Adelanto are substandard are false.<\/p>\n \u201cAll detainees are provided with proper meals, water, medical treatment, and have opportunities to communicate with their family members and lawyers,\u201d the statement read, in part.<\/p>\n Ryan Smith, an ICE assistant field office director, told the court in a declaration<\/a> that the July 16 preliminary injunction \u201cfrustrates and impedes\u201d the agency’s ability to enforce immigration laws.<\/p>\n Smith\u2019s declaration said the facility already complies with many of the immediate requirements of the injunction, and that other requirements would create safety risks or an \u201cundue burden\u201d for ICE.<\/p>\n Carl Bergquist is general counsel for the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights \u2014 known as CHIRLA \u2014 which is one of the organizations representing plaintiffs in the lawsuit. He said the plaintiffs plan to formally oppose the government\u2019s request to stay the injunction.<\/p>\n He also expressed concern that other aspects of the court order \u2014 including an immediate requirement to provide 24-hour access to clean drinking water, healthy meals and hygiene products \u2014 remain unaddressed, despite the government\u2019s claims.<\/p>\n \u201cAll of that was supposed to be immediate upon the order coming out,\u201d said Bergquist. \u201cWe believe we’ve seen instances of some of that not happening already. So that’s a problem.\u201d<\/p>\n Bergquist said his organization has monitored conditions at Adelanto since the July 16 order through visits once or twice a week to the detention center. He said CHIRLA has also taken new reports from people who are detained there either through the organization’s hotline or through family members.<\/p>\n What the order requires ICE to do to improve conditions at Adelanto<\/p>\n The preliminary injunction<\/p>\n Provide 24-hour access to clean potable drinking water and nutritious and sanitary meals with enough caloriesClean the facility daily, provide free soap and hygiene products, treat and remediate moldEnsure adequate privacy to detainees using the restroom or showeringProvide access to sanitary and temperature-appropriate clothingProvide access to sanitary and temperature-appropriate mattresses, pillows and blanketsProvide access to outdoor recreation spaces for at least four hours a day, unless there are documented security risksAllow visits, without time limits, during the facility’s business hours that allow for physical contactConduct head counts of detaineesStop the isolation of detainees unless there is a documented security concern that threatens safety of security or staff, with some exceptions<\/p>\n Background on the lawsuit<\/p>\n Adelanto has a long history of complaints about its conditions. The facility was nearly shut down <\/a>during the COVID-19 pandemic because of unsafe conditions.<\/p>\n A court ordered the facility to stop accepting new detainees, and the population remained relatively low, down to fewer than a handful of detainees by the end of the Biden administration.<\/p>\n The population climbed sharply with the start of intense ICE enforcement in the L.A. area in June 2025.<\/p>\n Bergquist called the rapid change from a nearly empty facility to one that is now over capacity \u201ca recipe for what we’re seeing now.\u201d<\/p>\n Concerns about current conditions at Adelanto have been documented by state officials for more than a year. An amicus brief filed in June by California Attorney General Rob Bonta<\/a>, whose office inspects immigration detention centers in the state, details several problems at the facility found during a July 2025 inspection.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Attorney General\u2019s office found, among other things, a facility that was overwhelmed with the rapid population increase; insufficient staffing; failures to attend to urgent medical needs, to care for individuals with chronic conditions, and to ensure specialty care referrals; and use of force concerns,\u201d according to the brief. The brief said inspectors heard reports of \u201cmurky and dirty\u201d water and improperly cooked food.<\/p>\n \u201cAlmost every person interviewed complained about the quality of the food,\u201d according to the brief.<\/p>\n The lawsuit that led to the July injunction was filed six months after Bonta\u2019s inspection on behalf of four plaintiffs representing Adelanto detainees as a class.<\/p>\n They asked the court to \u201cto end the unlawful and unconstitutional conditions at Adelanto, prohibit Defendants from violating their civil, constitutional, and human rights, and require Defendants to provide lawfully adequate conditions,\u201d the complaint reads. \u201cIn other words, they ask to be treated like human beings.\u201d<\/p>\n The GEO group runs Adelanto for federal officials under a contract that runs through 2029. <\/p>\n Who is responsible for conditions?<\/p>\n In court filings, the federal government has argued<\/a> it cannot be held responsible for the actions of GEO, its contractor. According to the lawsuit, ICE\u2019s current contract with Adelanto pays GEO more than $400 million a year to run the facility. The contract was extended for five years in 2024, and is now set to expire in 2029.<\/p>\n While issuing the preliminary injunction, Sykes ruled<\/a> that the plaintiffs demonstrated they are likely to prevail, \u201cor at least, raise serious questions\u201d on their claims that the facility violated their Fifth Amendment protections against inhuman conditions and will suffer \u201cirreparable harm\u201d if the courts don\u2019t grant relief.<\/p>\n In its Thursday request to stay the injunction, the federal government reiterated its position that ICE does not \u201cown, staff, or run\u201d Adelanto and cannot address the conditions there on its own.<\/p>\n \u201cThe difficulty is not the conditions the Order describes; it is that the Order commands ICE to produce results inside a facility that The GEO Group, Inc. \u2014 a private federal contractor that is not a party in the litigation \u2014 owns, staffs, and operates every hour of every day,\u201d the filing reads.<\/p>\n Bergquist said Sykes has rejected those claims.<\/p>\n \u201cWe argued that ICE is in charge here and those arguments are spurious. The judge agreed with that and thus moved ahead\u201d with the preliminary injunction.<\/p>\n How to reach me<\/p>\n If you have a tip, you can reach me on Signal. My username is Jbennett.18<\/a>.<\/p>\n The filing states that ICE\u2019s contract with GEO requires the facility to comply with several sets of national standards for detention and correctional health.<\/p>\n The government also argues several parts of the order go beyond the contractual obligations between GEO and ICE, and could be dangerous if implemented.<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1785535278_116_.jpeg\")
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