Immigrants detained at the Desert View Annex in Southern California started a hunger strike Tuesday, accusing the facility’s owner Geo Group Inc. of mold, poor drinking water, delayed medical care, and reduced food rations. At least 20 people are participating
By Tuesday morning, the Desert View Annex next to the Adelanto ICE Processing Center had a new kind of pressure in the air: detainees refusing to eat.
A coalition of immigrant rights groups says at least 20 immigrants have launched a hunger strike to protest what they describe as inhumane conditions at the facility in Southern California. The strike is taking place at the Desert View Annex. an annex facility holding more than 400 detainees. according to state officials. The annex’s bed capacity is listed as 750.
The location is not incidental. The hunger strike is happening next door to the Adelanto ICE Processing Center. where previous hunger strikes have occurred and where four people have died since the facility reopened last year. Advocates say the suffering in that area is continuing in the facility beside it.
Defend Migrants Alliance of Southern California. a coalition made up of activists. labor unions. and community organizations. announced the hunger strike during a morning news conference and read a statement from the strikers. They demanded that Geo Group Inc. the owner and operator of the facility. remove mold. improve drinking water. and provide timely medical care for people with chronic health conditions.
The coalition also alleged that food rations at the facility have been reduced, pushing detainees to buy costly items through the commissary. The group said it would stop purchasing food as part of an economic boycott.
A spokesperson for Geo Group did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In the past, the company has told The Times that its services are monitored by ICE and other entities within the Department of Homeland Security to ensure compliance with federal detention standards.
For detainees and their families, the dispute is not abstract. Eva Huerta, whose husband was recently transferred from the Adelanto ICE Processing Center to the annex facility next door, described conditions at both sites as “terrible.”
Huerta said staff often ignored her husband’s pleas for medical attention. “When he goes to the doctor for a cough and chest pain, they simply give him two Tylenols,” she said. “They give him two baggies with salt so he can gargle. That’s my grandma’s recipe; that is not medical attention.”
She said her husband repeatedly asked if he could get a lower bunk because of an elbow injury. “Nobody deserves to be treated that way now,” Huerta said. “They deserve dignity, and we have to speak out for them.”
Caleb Soto. an attorney for the National Day Laborer Organizing Network who represents many detainees. said he has seen people deteriorate after weeks spent waiting for care. “The food they’re given, as you’ve heard, provides almost no nutrition,” he said. “Medical appointments can take weeks or even months to be approved and often last 60 seconds. ending with a prescription of Tylenol. Advil. or even a salt packet.”.
He added, “People with serious conditions go untreated, and I’ve watched people age in front of me in a matter of months. They are demanding better.”
The strike is unfolding at a moment when the company has benefited financially from federal detention work. The article states that the company listed $300 million in annual revenue from its contracts with the federal government. as the federal government has been trying to increase the number of detention beds.
Geo Group has also faced sustained criticism and scrutiny over the treatment of immigrant detainees. particularly at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center. which is at the center of a federal class-action lawsuit. The lawsuit alleges detainees face similar conditions to those at the annex. including mold. disease. medical neglect. and inadequate food and water.
A recent report by the California Department of Justice found that conditions had worsened at immigration detention centers across the state. California law requires the state’s top law enforcement agency to conduct inspections and publish its findings on the conditions of immigration detention facilities operating within the state.
As of May, there were eight facilities spread throughout California that are owned and operated mostly by Geo Group and CoreCivic.
The hunger strike also comes amid a wider death toll in ICE custody in California. At least six people have died in ICE custody since the start of 2025—four at Adelanto and two at the Imperial Regional Detention Facility. In all of the Adelanto cases. family members alleged that the facility’s medical response was inadequate. according to the state report.
Behind the hunger strike is a blunt sequence of claims that match the region’s recent history: repeated reports of mold. water problems. delays in medical care. and food and water shortages are now being met with a refusal to eat—an attempt. activists say. to force medical attention and basic dignity to arrive before health worsens further.
hunger strike ICE detention Desert View Annex Adelanto ICE Processing Center Geo Group immigrants mold drinking water medical neglect Tylenol National Day Laborer Organizing Network Defend Migrants Alliance of Southern California California Department of Justice class-action lawsuit