NPR spoke to immigration experts and lawyers and reviewed government documents to break down the steps of the U.S. deportation process and its cost.
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Ana Galvañ for NPR
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Topline:
Here's how immigration experts and lawyers who reviewed government documents break down the steps and associated costs of the U.S. deportation process.
Why now: President Trump kicked off his second term vowing to deport a record number of people from the U.S. But deportation is typically a cumbersome process generally involving an arrest, detention, a removal order from a judge and finally a flight out of the U.S. and can take months or years.
What's next: Trump has taken steps to change how law enforcement officials track, find, detain and remove those in the country without legal status. He's also broadened the categories of people eligible for deportation.
Keep reading... for details on each step of the process.
President Trump kicked off his second term vowing to deport a record number of people from the U.S. But deportation — a cumbersome process generally involving an arrest, detention, a removal order from a judge and finally a flight out of the U.S. — can take months or years.
"Each of those pieces can be extremely difficult and complicated depending on where someone is, who they are, what types of protection claims they might have, what types of resources the U.S. government has," said Kathleen Bush-Joseph, lawyer and policy analyst with the U.S. Immigration Policy Program at the Migration Policy Institute, a nonpartisan think tank.
Much like his predecessors, Trump has taken steps to change how law enforcement officials track, find, detain and remove those in the country without legal status. He's also broadened the categories of people eligible for deportation.
"The sands are shifting underneath our feet," said Eric Welsh, partner at Reeves Immigration Law Group in Los Angeles, which represents individuals and businesses on issues related to immigration status and visas.
NPR spoke to immigration experts and lawyers and reviewed government documents to break down the steps of the U.S. deportation process and its cost. This is meant as a general breakdown of the process and not a rule for each individual's circumstances.
Step 1: Identifying who is removable
In March, Immigration and Customs Enforcement told reporters it had arrested 32,000 people since Trump took office.
Those at risk for arrest include people without legal status because they may have entered the country illegally, overstayed a work or student visa, or violated the terms of their green card, including by committing a crime.
But immigration law experts add that federal law officials do not have to prove someone committed a crime to deport them — as recent examples of revoked student visas show.
Trump's latest moves include ending programs that granted legal status to migrants from certain countries. The administration said it would not renew Haitians and Venezuelans' Temporary Protected Status, a program that grants citizens of certain countries permission to live and work in the U.S. The White House also said it would end a Biden-era humanitarian program that granted two-year permits to live and work in the U.S. to Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans who had fiscal sponsors in the United States.
There is pending litigation that has paused plans to end the protections, but if they lapse, once-eligible people who remain in the U.S. would be in the country without legal status and thus eligible for deportation.
Those at risk for arrests include people without legal status because they may have entered the country illegally, overstayed a work or student visa, or violated the terms of their green card, including by committing a crime.
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Ana Galvañ for NPR
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Since taking office, Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem have tapped law enforcement in other federal agencies to assist with arrests to meet an aggressive quota pushed by Trump's officials.
In January, ICE officers were assigned a quota of 75 arrests per day for each of the 20 field offices.
The FBI, U.S. Marshals Service and Drug Enforcement Administration are now assisting in investigations and arrests. But those "at-large arrests" — done directly by federal agents — have constituted a minority of all ICE arrests in most years, according to the Migration Policy Institute; they were just 29% of all arrests in fiscal year 2024. Typically, most arrests come from local law enforcement.
Often, that involves the Criminal Alien Program, which takes people who are in local jails and prisons and transfers them to ICE custody, and a provision known as 287(g), which allows local police and jails to conduct limited immigration law enforcement.
Immigration detention can come at any point from arrest to a final decision in court. The cost can range and DHS also uses government contracts with private prison operators to expand available space. One recent contract is estimated to generate $180 million in annual revenue for CoreCivic. Alternatives to detention, such as ankle monitors and regular check-ins with ICE, can also be used.
Immigration lawyers explain that sometimes immigrants may ignore a notice to appear, or miss the notice altogether due to filing glitches. But a failure to appear results in a final order of removal.
Trump has also sought to skip the court process, relying on programs like "expedited removal," which allows anyone in the country for under two years without legal status to be deported quickly, and the "Alien Enemies Act," which the government has claimed allows it to deport people it deems members of Venezuelan gangs without due process, an assertion under intense legal scrutiny in federal courts.
Step 3: Immigration court system
A person is required to appear in court for a judge to decide whether they are removable.
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Ana Galvañ for NPR
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Immigration law decisions, including whether someone gets a final removal order, fall under the Executive Office for Immigration Review within the Justice Department. That office had more than 4 million pending cases in the last quarter of 2024.
"People referred to the immigration courts might end up waiting years before they have a hearing determining their case," said Bush-Joseph, from the Migration Policy Institute. "And when someone files for asylum, those cases can actually take even longer because of the complex nature of the claims."
If a person is found to be removable by a judge, a judge may find them "removable as charged," which is not a final order of removal but kicks off the rest of the process. The person does not lose their status at this point, if they have it.
"It's just like any other form of litigation. You can say 'I deny that' and the government has to prove that you are removable," said John Conrace, an immigration attorney in Mississippi. "People who get orders of removal, those are often generated because they are afraid to go to their initial hearing."
If they appear in court, people have the right to ask for time to seek legal representation, though most people don't have lawyers.
Immigration lawyers say they often look for two numbers to prepare for the next step: if the person has been here for less than one year or more than 10. Less than one year allows a person to potentially claim asylum. More than 10 can stave off final removal if people can prove there is a relative who will suffer extreme hardship if the person is deported, or if they have a U.S. citizen spouse or children. But this is hard to win — and never grants a pathway to legal status.
Those in the country between one and 10 years can try to withhold removal based on other claims, such as risk of persecution or humanitarian relief.
If a person's claims to stave off deportation fail, the judge issues a final order of removal.
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Ana Galvañ for NPR
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If people's claims to stave off deportation fail, the judge issues a final order of removal. That's also appealable. People can also choose to "voluntarily depart," which is not a formal deportation and does not reflect on a person's future immigration record.
Appeals of removal are filed with the DOJ's Board of Immigration Appeals and could reach circuit courts and then the Supreme Court.
"That takes a wildly varied amount of time. If you are not detained and you are free, it could be years before the BIA gets to resolving the issue that was appealed," Conrace said, adding that it is not common for cases to make it up to the highest court.
"The current pace of work means that it would take a lot more resources, a lot more immigration judges and asylum officers, to be trying to work through these applications at a faster pace than is currently happening," Bush-Joseph said.
About 1.4 million people have pending deportation orders, according to ICE, but there are challenges to sending many back to their home countries. One reason is that their home countries have not agreed to accept them.
Estimates on total cost to deport one person vary depending on where someone is apprehended, how long they are in detention and the length of their legal battle. DHS' budget for ICE is $8 billion, the Customs and Border Protection budget is $20 billion and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services budget, which is covered by the fees people pay to apply for citizenship and other benefits, is $865 million. Not all this money goes to immigration law enforcement.
"Overall, the U.S. immigration system remains extremely overwhelmed, under-resourced and outdated," Bush-Joseph said. "It's going to take congressional action to really update and reform the system and bring it into the 21st century to meet modern migration challenges."
That reform, though, has proved a challenge — decades of reform efforts have died in Congress. A promising bipartisan effort came together early last year after months of careful negotiation, but fell apart less than a day after it was made public — as then-candidate Trump pressured Republicans to oppose the deal in order to keep border security alive as an issue in the presidential election.
Now, the administration is hoping that Congress can provide $175 billion for border security in the budget reconciliation process later this year.
Go past the dog walkers and strollers up the hilly street with the massive refinery. You’ll see an aerospace company’s moon buggy mural. Head toward a classic dingbat apartment and you’ll find a surfer-themed bar in a WWII-style Quonset hut.
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Don Perez
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The LA Local
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Topline:
Secret stand-up shows are happening where ticket-buyers are told where to show up just hours before. It's all part of the new Don't Tell Comedy series.
Details: The sites vary from parking lots, furniture stores, wine shops and other unconventional settings for stand-up comedy.
Go past the dog walkers and strollers up the hilly street with the massive refinery. You’ll see an aerospace company’s moon buggy mural. Head toward a classic dingbat apartment and you’ll find a surfer-themed bar in a WWII-style Quonset hut.
Shh. There’s a secret comedy show happening in there where a comic is revealing secret techniques to make babies fart.
Don’t Tell Comedy shows like this one at Boardroom Brewery in El Segundo last month are happening all around Los Angeles County. They are stand-up shows where the crowd is only given venue clues ahead of time and only told where to be just hours before. The sites vary from parking lots, furniture stores, wine shops and other unconventional settings for stand-up comedy.
How to find a secret comedy show
The first step is fairly simple. Visit the Don’t Tell Comedy website and look for a show in a city you don’t mind driving to.
You’re going to have to buy tickets without knowing anything about the show. That means you won’t know who is performing or where the show is being held.
The morning of the event, you will receive a text message or email with the address to the secret location.
What a typical show looks like
Go past the dog walkers and strollers up the hilly street with the massive refinery. You’ll see an aerospace company’s moon buggy mural. Head toward a classic dingbat apartment and you’ll find a surfer-themed bar in a WWII-style Quonset hut.
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Don Perez
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The LA Local
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Boardroom Brewery bartender Rick Mathiesen told The LA Local that the night started with folks “getting out of their Ubers with confused looks on their faces.” They were trying to figure out if they got the right place, especially when the beach town bar rolled down its see-through hangar door.
The secret comedy show organization started in 2017 with backyard and living room pop-up shows. It has expanded its clandestine comedy format to more than 200 cities, including areas across LA such as downtown, Los Feliz, Silver Lake and Pasadena.
Griffin James, the emcee of the night and a local producer for Don’t Tell Comedy, was seen putting 80 chairs away by himself — hey, legendary comic Sam Kinison got his start as The Comedy Store’s doorman.
The 26-year-old Griffin said the gigs are still as competitive as landing a stage at The Laugh Factory, where he’s performed. There’s an added benefit for the audience: There is no mandatory two-drink minimum, which makes it more affordable than a night at a traditional comedy club.
Go past the dog walkers and strollers up the hilly street with the massive refinery. You’ll see an aerospace company’s moon buggy mural. Head toward a classic dingbat apartment and you’ll find a surfer-themed bar in a WWII-style Quonset hut.
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Don Perez
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The LA Local
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Most comics at Don’t Tell Comedy shows are up-and-coming locals, but a few big names like Ali Wong, Nikki Glaser and Michael Che have appeared.
Jenna Lewanda told The LA Local that she and her boyfriend, Manny Aguilar, decided to take a trip from their West Hollywood home to the mystery spot in El Segundo. Their usual haunts for live comedy are the Hollywood Improv and a friend’s show, Hambone Comedy.
Lewanda received a message at 9 a.m. that Saturday with the location details. She looked it up and committed the odd curved building to memory. She was happy that night’s headliner was a famous stand-up: Brad Williams.
Williams — a comedian with dwarfism who has two Showtime specials and a Netflix stand-up episode under his belt — closed out the seven-comic show that night.
He got a lot of laughs recalling a camping incident where a park ranger told him to “get big” when confronted by a bear. The 4-foot-4-inch Williams’ response: “How?”
Republican Assemblymember Greg Wallis is fighting hard to retain his seat representing a purple district in Southern California.
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Fred Greaves
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CalMatters
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Topline:
With less than three weeks until Election Day, outside groups are pouring millions of dollars into two types of state legislative races: purple districts featuring a Democrat and a Republican, and safely Democratic districts featuring Democrats of different ideological stripes.
Big spenders: Political action committees backed by politically powerful groups such as unions and business have spent over $100 million on California legislative races so far this election cycle, eclipsing 2024 spending. Groups can spend unlimited amounts on “independent expenditures” to boost or oppose a candidate, providing they don’t coordinate with the campaign.
The backstory: Since they came on the scene in January, two new tech-backed groups have dominated spending in legislative races. Grow California, funded by cryptocurrency investor Chris Larsen and venture capitalist Tim Draper as a “counterforce” to union spending, has spent more than $20 million this cycle. California Leads, funded by Meta and Google, has spent close to $14 million this year to support candidates who are focused on “real-world solutions rather than ideological fights.”
With less than three weeks until Election Day, outside groups are pouring millions of dollars into two types of state legislative races: purple districts featuring a Democrat and a Republican, and safely Democratic districts featuring Democrats of different ideological stripes.
Political action committees backed by politically powerful groups such as unions and business have spent over $100 million on California legislative races so far this election cycle, eclipsing 2024 spending. Groups can spend unlimited amounts on “independent expenditures” to boost or oppose a candidate, providing they don’t coordinate with the campaign.
Since they came on the scene in January, two new tech-backed groups have dominated spending in legislative races. Grow California, funded by cryptocurrency investor Chris Larsen and venture capitalist Tim Draper as a “counterforce” to union spending, has spent more than $20 million this cycle. California Leads, funded by Meta and Google, has spent close to $14 million this year to support candidates who are focused on “real-world solutions rather than ideological fights.”
Legislative Action PAC, which Republican strategists founded in 2025 at the request of Republican lawmakers amid frustration with the official state Republican Party, is also spending for the first time this cycle. It aims to help Republicans hold seats they flipped in 2024, and its major funders include Google, AT&T and oil and gas companies. The PAC and its offshoots, Legislative Action Victory PAC and Legislative Bipartisan Action PAC, have spent at least $6 million to support Republican candidates since April.
A CalMatters analysis of spending since the June 2 primary found that these are the nine most expensive competitive general election contests in the Legislature. Total spending in each race includes campaign spending from the primary through Sept. 19, the most recent reporting period, and independent expenditures from the primary through Oct. 13.
$5.6 million: David Penaloza (D) v. Jessie Lopez (D) – Assembly District 68
The priciest race so far is between two millennial Democrats who both serve on the Santa Ana City Council in Orange County. Lopez is the more progressive of the two: She helped pass a rent control ordinance in 2021 and faced a recall attempt by the local police union after she voted to create a police oversight commission in 2022. Tech money is flowing to help her opponent: In recent weeks, California Leads has spent $1.4 million and Grow California has spent $1.3 million on ads supporting Penaloza.
Several powerful unions, including those representing public employees, nurses and California State University faculty, have spent a combined $1.4 million on ads supporting Lopez and attacking Penaloza.
$5 million: John Erickson (D) v. Brian Goldsmith (D) – Senate District 24
In the battle to succeed Sen. Ben Allen, Brian Goldsmith, an entrepreneur and former senior adviser for the pro-Israel advocacy group Democratic Majority for Israel, faces John Erickson, a West Hollywood city councilmember. The coastal Los Angeles district includes Malibu and Santa Monica. The two candidates are sharply divided on renter protections. Erickson supports repealing both the Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act and the Ellis Act, which limit local rent control and allow landlords to evict tenants to leave the rental business. That’s likely driving the influx of money supporting Goldsmith from the California Apartment Association, which has spent $450,000 on independent ads attacking Erickson. The California Realtors Association is the main funder of a PAC that’s spent over $600,000 backing Goldsmith.
Criminal justice reform advocates and organized labor, including the carpenters and school employees association, have bankrolled ads supporting Erickson.
$4.7 million: Greg Wallis (R) v. Leila Namvar (D) – Assembly District 47
Republican Assemblymember Greg Wallis is again fighting hard to retain his seat representing a purple district that includes both deep-blue Palm Springs and Cathedral City as well as conservative suburbs around Redlands and Yucaipa. Wallis has a significant fundraising advantage over his opponent, Democrat Leila Namvar, a former local labor leader and city planner. His campaign has outspent hers 6-to-1 and independent expenditures supporting him are more than 5-to-1. A moderate with a pro-business record, Wallis has been a favorite of California Leads, which has spent $1.1 million supporting him. A PAC funded by oil and gas companies has spent about $450,000. Legislative Bipartisan Action PAC spent about the same.
Amid the flood of outside spending, the Democratic Party has backed Namvar. Since mid-September, the party and its county committees have given her committee about $1.8 million.
$4.6 million: Sara Hernandez (D) v. Sarah Rascón (D) – Senate District 26
Two Democrats are vying to replace departing progressive Sen. María Elena Durazo in this deep blue Los Angeles-based district. Sara Hernandez, a community college trustee, faces Sarah Rascón, a planning commissioner for East Los Angeles. Grow California and California Leads are backing Hernandez to the tune of about $3 million, even though her campaign website says she will “fight for strict rules with real enforcement” on Big Tech profits. Cardrooms near this district, including Hawaiian Gardens Casino and Commerce Casino, which are in a perennial battle with tribal casinos over gaming rights, have spent about $500,000 on independent ads supporting Hernandez.
Rascón, whose top priorities include advancing environmental and social justice, has rejected corporate money. Her campaign had spent about $34,000 as of mid-September, and the Working Families Party and California Environmental Voters have spent over $100,000 on ads supporting her.
$3.8 million: Eric Lucan (D) v. Jackie Elward (D) – Assembly District 12
This seat, which encompasses all of Marin County and some of Sonoma County, is another target of Grow California. The group has spent about $1.8 million on ads supporting Marin County Supervisor Eric Lucan. Lucan’s positions are more moderate than those of progressive Rohnert Park Councilmember Jackie Elward, who said in a KQED questionnaire that she supports moratoriums on “all things AI,” including data centers, and that “protecting workers is the priority.”
Elward’s support comes chiefly from the California Labor Federation, AFL-CIO, Consumer Attorneys of California and SEIU California State Council, which have spent over $1 million to support her race.
$3.2 million: Jeff Gonzalez (R) v. Ida Obeso-Martinez (D) – Assembly District 36
Outside groups have spent $2.7 million to back Republican Assemblymember Jeff Gonzalez. Photo by Fred Greaves for CalMattersTraditionally Democratic, this Latino-majority district along the California-Mexico border voted for Trump by 1.3 percentage points in 2024. The same year, Republican Jeff Gonzalez flipped it. Democrat Ida Obeso-Martinez, a nurse practitioner and Imperial County councilmember, is now challenging him to take it back. Oil and gas companies, a California Chamber of Commerce PAC and Legislative Bipartisan Action PAC are among the outside groups that have spent $2.7 million on mailers, polling, and TV and digital ads supporting Gonzalez and attacking Obeso-Martinez.
No outside groups have spent on behalf of Obeso-Martinez, but the California Democratic Party and its central committees recently gave Obeso-Martinez over $1.5 million for the final weeks of the race.
$2.8 million: Josh Hoover (R) v. Amy Slavensky (D) – Assembly District 7
Incumbent Republican Josh Hoover faces Democrat Amy Slavensky, a retired teacher and superintendent, in this competitive Sacramento-area district, which shifted rightward after redistricting in 2022. Hoover’s allies, including business groups, cardrooms, and the Legislative Action PAC, have spent at least $2.3 million, chiefly on digital ads and mailers supporting him and opposing Slavensky.
No independent groups have spent to support Slavensky, but Democrats have contributed close to $1 million to Slavensky since mid-September.
$2.6 million: Leticia Castillo (R) v. Clarissa Cervantes (D) – Assembly District 58
Assemblymember Leticia Castillo at her desk during a floor session at the state Capitol in Sacramento on Jan. 23, 2025. Photo by Fred Greaves for CalMattersRepublican Assemblymember Leticia Castillo flipped this Latino-majority seat in Riverside County in 2024, defeating Democrat challenger Clarissa Cervantes by 596 votes. This year is a close rematch. Cervantes, a Riverside city councilmember whose sister is Sen. Sabrina Cervantes, received 54.5% of the vote compared to Castillo’s 45.5% in the June primary. In a rare move, Cervantes has outspent the incumbent Castillo in the general election. Much of her spending — close to $1 million — has been from her campaign account, compared to Castillo’s $80,000.
Legislative Action Victory PAC has spent about $650,000 on ads attacking Cervantes, and a coalition of unions spent about $530,000 supporting her. Both parties have been pouring in money to their respective candidates in the last few weeks.
$2.6 million: Guillermo Gonzalez (R) v. Melissa Hurtado (D) – Senate District 16
Incumbent Democratic Sen. Melissa Hurtado won this district by 13 votes in 2022 even as Gov. Gavin Newsom lost it by more than 10 percentage points, making her the only Democrat to represent a state Senate district that President Donald Trump won in 2024. She faces a challenge from Republican Guillermo Gonzalez, a small business owner and former aide to Rep. David Valadao. Legislative Action PAC has spent over $1.7 million supporting Gonzalez and opposing Hurtado.
The Democratic Party and various county central committees have donated $4.8 million to Hurtado’s campaign war chest this election cycle, allowing her to spend close to $1 million between the primary and mid-September’s filing deadline.
For the record: This story was corrected to reflect that Clarissa Cervantes received 54.5% of the vote in her June primary contest against Leticia Castillo.
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Nicole Novembrino is the owner of the new bookshop Outpost Books that opened in South Pasadena in September
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Laura Dux
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LAist
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Topline:
Tucked away between a massage parlor and pet wash on Fair Oaks Avenue is South Pasadena’s only new and used independent bookstore.
Why now? Outpost Books opened in September. And the name sets the tone for the just under 1,000-square-foot space.
The vibe: “I wanted it to feel obviously cozy [like] a bookstore,” said owner Nicole Novembrino. But also “like a trading post, where you just stop along the road and there's stuff everywhere.”
Tucked away between a massage spa and pet wash on Fair Oaks Avenue is South Pasadena’s only new and used independent bookstore.
Outpost Books opened in September. And the name sets the tone for the just-under-1,000-square-foot space.
“I wanted it to feel obviously cozy [like] a bookstore,” said owner Nicole Novembrino. But also “like a trading post, where you just stop along the road, and there's stuff everywhere.”
The back of the shop's tiny "Kids Corral" where Outpost Books plans to have weekly story readings.
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Laura Dux
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LAist
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Inside, custom corral doors open to a mural of a desert sunset. Hand-drawn signs guide you to each genre. Novembrino selects the books herself, from bestsellers to history books, including those that honor Route 66 — which Fair Oaks is part of. Some of the used books come from a local retirement home. The stickers for sale are for causes she supports such as keeping national parks public. A donation box to keep wild horses and burros free sits by the cash register.
How road trips shaped the store
Novembrino signed the lease in August and spent weekends road-tripping across Arizona gathering art to fill out the space. The western vibe is inspired by her childhood road trips from Southern California to New Mexico, where her mom grew up.
Novembrino got the corral doors custom made from a craftsman in Texas
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Laura Dux
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LAist
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Why South Pasadena — and the rent worry
Novembrino picked South Pasadena because the city didn’t have a bookstore, but she’s aware of how difficult it is to run a small business. Nearby, longtime children's toy store Dinosaur Farm said in a September social media post a rent hike could lead to the shop shutting down.
“That's the one thing when you own a business is making rent. I hope not to feel that fear, but it's a very real thing,” Novembrino said.
Novembrino had her fiancé designed several of the stickers found in the shop
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Laura Dux
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LAist
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A line out the door on opening day
So far, so good. On opening day, she was shocked to see a long line out the door, having done little outreach and promotion beforehand. Turns out, a South Pasadena social media influencer caught wind of the shop and posted about its grand opening date.
“I've gotten thank-yous for opening,” Novembrino, who lives in El Sereno, said. “They're just excited to have a bookstore. I wasn't expecting that.”
Outpost Books is planning for its first events later this season, including kids' corral storytimes and book clubs. Novembrino is still settling into the dream of finally running a bookshop.
As for her second dream, that’s opening up a donkey rescue.
Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Long Beach) speaks at a lectern near the Adelanto detention center.
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Julia Barajas
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LAist
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Topline:
Conditions at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center have improved but serious concerns remain, according to Rep. Robert Garcia, who represents Long Beach, and other members of Congress who visited the facility Friday.
Improvements to water: Rep. Norma Torres of Pomona, who has visited Adelanto in an oversight capacity 25 times, said the only improvement she saw this time was that the facility installed water filtration systems in response to a July court order requiring ICE to ensure people held there have access to clean drinking water 24 hours a day.
Remaining issues: At a news conference immediately following the visit, the representatives described unsanitary conditions in the showers and kitchen areas, food that looked inedible and inadequate access to medical care.
The visit was unannounced: Garcia, the highest-ranking Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, said officials at the facility kept the delegation waiting in the lobby for half an hour before starting the tour, despite a recent court order requiring the Trump administration to grant elected officials access to immigration detention facilities. “We should have been allowed to visit immediately,” Garcia said. “That is the law.”
Conditions at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center have improved, but serious concerns remain, according to Rep. Robert Garcia, who represents Long Beach, and other members of Congress who visited the facility Friday.
At a news conference immediately following the visit, the representatives described unsanitary conditions in the showers and kitchen areas, food that looked inedible and inadequate access to medical care.
Improvements to water
Rep. Norma Torres of Pomona, who has visited Adelanto 25 times in an oversight capacity, said the only improvement she saw this time was that the facility installed water filtration systems in response to a July court order requiring ICE to ensure people held there have access to clean drinking water 24 hours a day.
Garcia told LAist he would leave it up to the independent monitors appointed by the court to determine if the facility was fully complying with the order. The monitor overseeing overall conditions at the facility released its first report, containing 12 recommendations for improvement, earlier this month. The federal government recently purchased the facility from the GEO Group Inc. for $950 million. GEO Group is still under contract to run day-to-day operations there.
The visit was unannounced
Garcia, the highest-ranking Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, said officials at the facility kept the delegation waiting in the lobby for half an hour before starting the tour, despite a recent court order requiring the Trump administration to grant elected officials access to immigration detention facilities.
“We should have been allowed to visit immediately,” Garcia said. “That is the law.”
Garcia and other representatives said it appeared the facility had been cleaned just before the tour started. The representatives also said they were not allowed to speak with people detained at the facility because ICE officials said they were conducting a point-in-time count and people were confined to their cells.
What’s next?
The representatives said they will take recommendations back to the oversight committee and plan to continue unannounced visits to immigration detention centers, including Adelanto. Should Democrats take control of the House of Representatives in November, Garcia and other representatives said they will increase oversight of the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement. Attorneys representing people held at Adelanto in a class-action lawsuit have asked the court to enforce the July order requiring improvements to the facility based on the independent monitor’s first report and reports from people detained there.
