The deaths of four Mexican nationals at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center since last year have placed the controversial Californian facility under renewed international scrutiny, following the death of another man in custody there this week.
José Guadalupe Ramos, 53, was found unresponsive in his bunk at the centre on 25 March. Staff performed CPR before paramedics transferred him to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead. According to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Ramos had a documented history of diabetes, hypertension and hyperlipidemia and had been receiving daily medication.
‘Shockingly inadequate’ medical care
Adelanto is operated by the GEO Group, ICE’s largest private contractor. The company states it provides 24-hour medical care, with access to physicians, nurses, and specialists, under ICE-monitored standards. However, the facility is the subject of an ongoing federal lawsuit alleging systemic medical neglect and inhumane treatment of detainees.
Those allegations were given significant weight by California’s Attorney General, Rob Bonta, following a state inspection. In a court filing this month, Bonta said his team witnessed “shockingly inadequate medical care” during visits to Adelanto. The state’s review identified a facility overwhelmed by population increases, with insufficient staffing and failures to attend to urgent medical needs, care for chronic conditions, and ensure specialist referrals.
Prior inspections had flagged incomplete health records, compromised patient confidentiality, and inadequate care for chronic illnesses—the very conditions from which Ramos suffered. The lawsuit and state findings paint a picture of a system struggling under the strain of record detention numbers, with potentially fatal consequences for detainee welfare.
Mexico vows diplomatic action
The pattern of deaths has triggered a formal diplomatic response from Mexico. President Claudia Sheinbaum confirmed at a press conference that her government would protest the latest fatality, specifically citing the Adelanto centre. She noted that several Mexican migrants had died there in recent years.
Mexican diplomatic officials are planning to raise human rights objections directly with the Trump administration and members of the US Congress, according to reports.
The death of José Guadalupe Ramos is at least the 14th in ICE custody this year, putting 2026 on pace to surpass the 32 detainee deaths recorded in 2025—a figure that was itself the highest annual total since 2004. The agency’s detained population has ballooned under the Trump administration’s mass deportation campaign, exceeding 68,000 people as of last month.
