Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials are apparently set to shut down a California detention facility capable of housing roughly 2,000 illegal immigrants despite the crisis hindering the state.
Located in Adelanto, California, the facility has not been able to meet its full capacity due to an order established during the COVID-19 pandemic that prevented ICE from transporting illegal immigrants to the facility, which is privately owned, according to a report.
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That order was issued in September 2020, but it remains in place and is believed to be responsible for the closing of similar facilities.
Rep. Jay Obernolte (R-CA) has been at the forefront of an effort to expand the facilities' capacity and has called on federal agencies to follow through on "all available avenues" to end the restrictions on new detainees, the report noted.
"At a time when our communities are suffering historic levels of illegal immigrants overwhelming our social services safety nets and our local law enforcement authorities to the point that they have been forced to use taxpayer resources to hold them in hotels, prisons, and other detention housing alternative, it is unacceptable that the Adelanto facility has been so underutilized," he said.
ICE officials maintain the agency's routine planning and continual assessments are utilized when determining the status of its existing facilities.
"Discussions with detention providers, including state and local partners, are critical to ICE's custody management mission and occur on a regular basis," a spokesperson for ICE said.
"Significant agency changes/updates are publicly announced when operationalized. ICE continuously reviews and enhances civil detention operations to ensure noncitizens are treated humanely, protected from harm, provided appropriate medical and mental health care, and receive the rights and protections to which they are entitled," the spokesperson added. "ICE takes its commitment to promoting safe, secure, humane environments for those in our custody very seriously."
The closing of the Adelanto facility would affect not only those detained there but also over 300 workers, according to the report.
It would be "devastating" for the employees, the National Federation of Federal Employees said, but closing the facility would see President Joe Biden carry out a pledge to diminish the use of private immigration detention facilities, which he made while running for president.
If that promise is met, closing of the facility would be tantamount to "enforcement malpractice," according to Rep. Mark Green (R-TN), the chairman of the Committee of Homeland Security.
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"At the same time Secretary Mayorkas and President Biden are asking Congress to fund new detention beds, they’re considering closing a state-of-the-art facility that offers almost 2,000 beds," Green said, arguing the president's math "simply doesn't add up."
"It just goes to show that the Biden administration’s talk about immigration enforcement is cheap — its actions tell the real story," the congressman said.