By Vanguard Staff
RIVERSIDE — People detained at the Adelanto Detention Facility will now have greater protections for access to legal counsel and phone calls under a settlement in Torres v. Noem, a lawsuit brought against the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the GEO Group.
The case, first filed in December 2018 in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, alleged that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), GEO, and local jail operators had erected unlawful barriers to communication between detainees and their lawyers. The lawsuit argued that restrictions violated the Immigration and Nationality Act as well as the First and Fifth Amendments to the Constitution.
According to the ACLU of Southern California, detainees at Adelanto often faced severely restricted, non-confidential, and expensive phone access. Calls could be cut off if not immediately answered by a live person. In addition, detainees were often unable to leave recorded messages, navigate automated menus, or connect with attorneys or legal organizations.
In many cases, the facilities offered few or no private consultation rooms, forcing lawyers and clients to meet in spaces where conversations could be overheard. During the COVID-19 pandemic, ICE policies at Adelanto further limited access, requiring attorneys to wear scarce personal protective equipment (PPE) such as N-95 masks and eye protection to visit clients, while phone access remained non-confidential.
The lawsuit was brought as a class action on behalf of individuals held at Adelanto and other Southern California detention centers, including the Theo Lacy and James A. Musick facilities in Orange County. Plaintiffs were represented by the ACLU Foundation of Southern California, the Immigrants’ Rights Clinic at Stanford Law School, and the law firm Sidley Austin LLP.
“Confidential legal calls are a critical lifeline for people in immigration detention to win their freedom and fight against their deportations – not to mention, a right protected by the Constitution,” said Eva Bitran, director of immigrants’ rights for the ACLU Foundation of Southern California. “Today’s settlement safeguarding access to counsel is all the more critical in light of ICE’s vast, unconstitutional raids throughout Southern California, which have resulted in a population boom at Adelanto.”
Under the settlement, detainees will have access to free and confidential legal calls, including during evening hours outside normal telephone availability. The agreement also guarantees that individuals will be able to place unrecorded, unmonitored calls from their housing units.
“We’re delighted to reach a settlement that will make it easier for our clients to access the legal counsel they are entitled to,” said Lindsay Toczylowski, president and CEO of Immigrant Defenders Law Center, one of the plaintiffs. “GEO was profiteering on the backs of imprisoned people, which prevented them from exercising their rights and disabled them from regaining their freedom. We stand ready to assist those detained in Adelanto, many of whom were victims of recent warrantless arrests, so that they have a fighting chance in court.”
The agreement establishes a 24-month period of court supervision to ensure that ICE and GEO implement the required changes. According to the ACLU, the settlement also reaffirms detainees’ rights to confidential legal visits in person, protects the privacy of legal mail, and arranges for the accurate delivery of telephone messages.
“With the unprecedented surge in enforcement funding from Congress, the Trump administration intends to escalate mass deportations, trampling the Constitutional guarantees of due process along the way,” said Jeff Joseph, president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), another plaintiff in the case. “There can be no fair hearing unless people in detention who are facing deportation have adequate access to counsel. This settlement affirms the principle that people in immigration detention—who are often held in remote facilities—must be able to call and have meaningful contact with their attorneys.”
Jayashri Srikantiah, director of the Immigrants’ Rights Clinic at Stanford Law School, also emphasized the broader protections included in the settlement. “The settlement ensures legal visits in person will continue to be permitted at any time, protects the privacy of legal mail, and arranges for the accurate delivery of telephone messages for people detained,” she said.
The case saw several important rulings over its seven-year course. In October 2019, a federal court denied DHS and GEO’s motions to dismiss, allowing the class action to move forward. In April 2020, as the pandemic spread, the court ordered ICE officials to revise policies at Adelanto to allow confidential conversations between detainees and attorneys, acknowledging that restrictions effectively cut people off from legal help.
In filings, the plaintiffs noted that immigrants with legal representation are far more likely to win their cases. The ACLU highlighted that for asylum seekers, having a lawyer can be a matter of life or death. Without access to counsel, individuals navigating complex immigration proceedings face long odds against deportation, often without the ability to adequately present their claims.
The Adelanto facility, operated by GEO under contract with ICE, has long been one of the largest immigration detention centers in the country, with capacity for nearly 2,000 detainees. Advocates have repeatedly raised concerns about conditions inside, including medical care, overcrowding, and restrictions on visitation.
For years, civil rights groups argued that limiting communication with lawyers was not only unconstitutional but also an attempt to accelerate deportations by denying detainees the ability to mount a defense. The settlement, they say, provides a measure of accountability and relief in a system where due process violations are widespread.
While the agreement marks a major step forward for legal access, advocates remain cautious. The settlement only applies for a two-year period, and continued monitoring will be necessary to ensure ICE and GEO comply. Still, for many, the protections represent a lifeline at a time when immigration enforcement has intensified.
The full signed settlement agreement is available here.
Follow the Vanguard on Social Media – X, Instagram and Facebook. To learn make a tax-deductible donation, please visit davisvanguard.org/donate or give directly through ActBlue. Your support will ensure that the vital work of the Vanguard continues.
