A San Bernardino County immigration detention center that is at risk of permanent closure will remain open at least through mid-June, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced Wednesday.
In a statement, ICE spokesperson Jenny Burke said the extension “provides additional time for potential relief from ongoing litigation preventing full use” of the Adelanto ICE Processing Center.
“The location and availability of detention space directly affects the agency's ability to remove people to their countries of origin, enforce immigration laws in the country's interior, and detain those who pose a threat to public or national security. Burke said.
The facility was originally scheduled to close a week before Christmas, but last month, ICE extended the contract until mid-February. About 350 unionized workers at the facilities urged the agency to find a way to keep them open, while advocates for detained immigrants welcomed the potential closure.
Adelanto has capacity for 1,940 people, but now houses few detainees. Its population dropped significantly in 2020 after a COVID-19 outbreak led the ACLU Foundation of Southern California to sue and a federal judge to order the release of detainees and pause new admissions.
Three years later, that order is still in effect.
ICE guarantees that it will pay contractors for a minimum number of beds, regardless of whether they are occupied. Both supporters and opponents of the facility have called it a waste of taxpayer money to keep Adelanto staffed and operating while supervising only a handful of detainees.
Adelanto, one of California's largest immigration detention centers, has been investigated by government watchdogs for health and safety violations, including disciplinary segregation and exposing detainees to toxic chemicals.
If it closes, six other private facilities would remain operational in the state.
