DHS disputes hunger strike claims at Adelanto ICE detention center

The Department of Homeland Security on Friday disputed allegations by a coalition of immigrant rights groups that more than 20 detainees at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center are refusing meals to protest what advocates describe as inhumane conditions, ABC7 Los Angeles reported.

The conflicting accounts — with federal immigration authorities calling the allegations "false reporting" while advocates insist detainees are refusing meals in protest — highlight deepening tensions over accountability and oversight inside the immigration detention system.

DHS called the hunger strike claims "false reporting" and told ABC7 Los Angeles that it delivers three meals daily to each detainee's room at the San Bernardino County facility. The Adelanto facility's management echoed that stance, telling ABC7 that "in all instances, our support services are monitored by ICE, including by on-site agency personnel."

A coalition of immigrant rights groups countered that at least 20 detainees at the facility are currently refusing to eat, citing poor medical care and food insecurity as the driving grievances, according to ABC7.

Eva Huerta, whose husband is held at Adelanto, told ABC7 that the medical treatment he receives is far from adequate. "When he goes to the doctor for a cough or chest pain, they simply just give him two Tylenol, mints - Christmas mints -- and they give him two baggies with salt so he can gargle," Huerta said. "That's my grandma's recipe, that's not medical attention."

Huerta told ABC7 that her husband was recently transferred from the main Adelanto facility to an annex location.

As of Friday, DHS and immigrant rights advocates offered sharply conflicting accounts of conditions at Adelanto, with no resolution in sight, ABC7 Los Angeles reported.