Reps. Aguilar, Chu and Gomez Demand Investigation into Reports of Retaliation Against Detainees at Adelanto ICE Processing Facility

Allegations include inadequate access to food, water, and medical care, as well as solitary confinement, transfer to other ICE facilities, and deportation

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Reps. Pete Aguilar (CA-33), Judy Chu (CA-28) and Jimmy Gomez (CA-34) wrote to Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin demanding an immediate investigation into reports that multiple detainees at the Adelanto ICE Processing Facility have faced retaliation for a hunger strike and for a meeting with the Members of Congress during a congressional oversight visit earlier this month.

On June 1st, the Congressional Members visited the facility and met with detainees who described a disturbing situation there, including poor treatment, unsafe conditions, and inadequate access to food, water, and essential medical care. Prior to the visit, the Members had learned that several detainees went on a hunger strike in order to protest these conditions, and during the visit these reports were confirmed by the individuals the Members visited.

Immediately following the oversight visit, the Congressional offices contacted ICE demanding a full and complete accounting of the facts into these disturbing incidents and the hostile treatment of detainees. That's why the Members of Congress are imploring the Homeland Security Secretary to provide answers about the reported punishments and demanding he hold individuals responsible for inhumane treatment of and retaliation against the detainees.

The letter reads in part:

"Any report of retaliation against a detainee at an ICE facility is disturbing and warrants investigation, but it is especially troubling if retaliation stemmed from meetings with Members of Congress performing oversight of an ICE facility. Meeting with detainees is an important component of any oversight visit to a detention facility and provides valuable and complete information to Members. They must be thoroughly investigated, and if proven true, corrected and the individuals responsible for them must be held accountable."

Read the full letter here and below.

June 17, 2026

The Honorable Markwayne Mullin
Secretary
U.S. Department of Homeland Security
2707 Martin Luther King Jr. Ave. SE
Washington, D.C. 20528

Dear Secretary Mullin:

We are writing to demand an immediate investigation into reports¹ that detainees have been retaliated against after our visit to the Adelanto U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Detention Center, located at 10250 Rancho Road, Adelanto, CA 92301, on Monday, June 1, 2026.

Any report of retaliation against a detainee at an ICE facility is disturbing and warrants investigation, but it is especially troubling if retaliation stemmed from meetings with Members of Congress performing oversight of an ICE facility. Meeting with detainees is an important component of any oversight visit to a detention facility and provides valuable and complete information to Members. These reports must be thoroughly investigated, and if proven true, corrected, and the individuals responsible for them must be held accountable.

During our oversight visit, we met with three detainees who described poor treatment and unsafe conditions at the detention facility. According to the Immigrant Defenders Law Center, a nonprofit law firm that represents detainees at the Adelanto facility, one of these detainees was moved out of the California facility and deported, which they allege was a violation of a court directive.

Prior to our visit, we heard reports that detainees were driven to take the desperate action of a hunger strike to protest inhumane conditions at the facility. The individuals raised serious concerns about the conditions in the facility, including the lack of access to adequate food, water, and medical care. Furthermore, they raised disturbing accusations that individuals were being retaliated against for protesting these conditions, including that they were being harassed, placed unjustly in solitary confinement, and subject to expedited deportation.

In light of these disturbing reports, we ask that you respond to the following questions no later than June 30, 2026.

1. Were any of the detainees we met during our Congressional oversight visit treated differently than before our visit in the days afterward? This includes, but is not limited to:
   1. Being placed in solitary confinement;
   2. Being transferred to another detention facility;
   3. Being issued a deportation order or removed;
   4. Being subject to increased force by detention facility personnel; or
   5. Losing privileges provided to other detainees, such as visitation or access to phones or tablets.
2. An issue that was raised by detainees during our oversight visit was the hunger strike mentioned above. Does ICE consider participation in a hunger strike to be a protected freedom of speech activity? What are ICE's policies regarding responses to hunger strikes?
3. Please respond to the reports that detainees were placed in solitary confinement, sent to other facilities across the country, and met with deportation orders following the visit.
4. What are ICE's standard operating procedures regarding the use of solitary confinement and segregation in detention facilities? Were these procedures followed regarding the above detainees in this instance? Please detail if any of the above detainees were placed in solitary confinement, when they were placed in segregation, and by what justification.
5. What are ICE's standard operating procedures for transferring detainees from one detention facility to another? Were these procedures followed regarding the above detainees in this instance? Please detail if any of the above detainees were relocated to another detention center, when, where, and by what justification.
   1. The government is required by law to "provide at least two court days' notice to the petitioner, their counsel, and the Court of its intent to remove the petitioner from the Central District of California." Was this notice provided prior to the detainee(s) being transferred?
6. Were any of the detainees who we met during the oversight visit issued deportation orders after the visit? Please detail which detainees, when, and by what justification.
   1. It has been reported that Kyon Shakeel Swaso, who was participating in the hunger strike, was deported following the congressional visit. Please provide the legal justification for this removal as well. Prior to his removal, was DHS aware of a court directive intended to prevent his deportation? If so, was that court directive followed?
7. If ICE alleges appropriate standard operating procedures were followed, what evidence can you provide to substantiate that actions taken against detainees were unrelated to their participation in our oversight visit?
8. Will you ensure future detainees who play an important role in thorough oversight visits conducted by Members of Congress are not met with retribution?

Congressional oversight visits are an essential part of our democracy, and these visits are incomplete without firsthand accounts from individuals in detention facilities.

Accordingly, we look forward to your prompt response to the above questions.

Sincerely,

Pete Aguilar
Member of Congress

Jimmy Gomez
Member of Congress

Judy Chu
Member of Congress