The lawsuit alleges the GEO Group, which runs the High Desert detention facility under contract with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, has failed to provide basic medical and mental health care, adequate food and water, and sanitary living conditions for nearly 2,000 immigrants held at the center.
"Families have watched as loved ones disappear into a detention system where cruelty has been normalized, and accountability has vanished," said Gina Amato, an immigrants' rights attorney at Public Counsel.
The complaint was filed by Public Counsel, the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights, Immigrant Defenders Law Center and the law firm Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP on behalf of current detainees. Attorneys say overcrowding, driven by increased immigration enforcement, overwhelmed staffing, medical services and safety protections.
"This explosion happened without sufficient staffing, without adequate medical infrastructure and without basic safeguards to protect health and safety," said Rebecca Brown, supervising attorney at Public Counsel. "This was not an accident. It was a choice."
The lawsuit highlights two deaths in custody that occurred just weeks apart last fall. Ismael Ayala-Uribe, a 39-year-old DACA recipient, died in September 2025. One month later, 56-year-old Gabriel Garcia-Aviles died after being detained at Adelanto for about a week. Both deaths remain under investigation.
Family members say they were unaware their loved ones were seriously ill.
"We found out about his passing early in the morning when police knocked at our door," said Jose Ayala, brother of Ayala-Uribe. "We had no idea he was hospitalized."
Gabriel Garcia Jr., whose father died in custody, said he wants accountability.
"We want justice, not just for my dad, but for everyone else who is going through this," he said.
One former detainee described prolonged medical neglect and indifference from staff.
"It didn't matter that we were coughing with fever," said Mario, a former detainee who declined to give his last name out of safety concerns. "I spent two days in bed, and no one came by to see if I was OK or if I'd eaten."
Attorneys say the conditions are designed to pressure detainees into abandoning their legal rights.
"Like most ICE prisons, it is engineered to be so punishing, so relentlessly soul-crushing, that people abandon their rights and accept deportation, even when they have strong asylum claims," said Alvaro Huerta, the director of litigation and advocacy at Immigrant Defenders Law Center.
The lawsuit seeks court-ordered reforms, including improved medical care, adequate food, sanitary conditions and limits on solitary confinement, along with independent oversight.
Eyewitness News reached out to the GEO Group and received the following statement from a spokesperson:
"We are proud of the role our company has played for 40 years to support the law enforcement mission of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Over the last four decades, our innovative support service solutions have helped the federal government implement the policies of seven different Presidential Administrations.
In all instances, our support services are monitored by ICE, including by on-site agency personnel, and other organizations within the Department of Homeland Security to ensure compliance with ICE's detention standards and contract requirements regarding the treatment and services ICE detainees receive. In the event issues are identified, we quickly resolve all of ICE's concerns as required by ICE's Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan.
The support services GEO provides include around-the-clock access to medical care, in-person and virtual legal and family visitation, general and legal library access, translation services, dietician-approved meals, religious and specialty diets, recreational amenities, and opportunities to practice their religious beliefs. Additionally, all of GEO's ICE Processing Centers are independently accredited by the American Correctional Association and the National Commission on Correctional Health Care.
At locations where GEO provides health care services, individuals are provided with access to teams of medical professionals including physicians, nurses, dentists, psychologists, and psychiatrists. Ready access to off-site medical specialists, imaging facilities, Emergency Medical Services, and local community hospitals is also provided when needed."