California AG Releases Fifth ICE Detention Inspection Report — 'Cruel, Inhumane, and Unacceptable' Conditions; 6 Deaths at CA Facilities Sept 2025–March 2026 — Adelanto Accounts for 4 of 6

California Attorney General Rob Bonta released the state's fifth inspection report on ICE detention facility conditions in May 2026, concluding that conditions in California ICE facilities remain 'cruel, inhumane, and unacceptable.' The report documents six detainee deaths between September 2025 and March 2026 — the highest figure recorded since California began DOJ-mandated inspections in 2017. Four of the six deaths occurred at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center in San Bernardino County, operated by GEO Group. At a California City facility (a former California state prison converted to ICE detention), inspectors found 'crisis-level' medical staffing: a single physician assigned to nearly 1,000 detainees. The report found that ICE's October 3, 2025 decision to stop paying for third-party medical care for detainees — including specialist referrals and hospital transfers — has created a direct causal link to delayed treatment and preventable deaths. According to the report, 32 of 33 deaths documented across California ICE facilities from January 2025 through March 2026 involved detainees with pre-existing medical conditions that required ongoing treatment. The AG's office found evidence of inadequate mental health screening, failure to provide prescribed medications, and solitary confinement used on medically vulnerable detainees at multiple facilities. The report was released against the backdrop of a national death toll trending toward a new annual record: ICE has reported 18+ deaths in calendar year 2026 through early May, with Physicians for Human Rights estimating 95% of ICE custody deaths are preventable with adequate medical care. The AG report joins a CNN investigation published May 15, 2026 — based on internal ICE data and whistleblower accounts — documenting that understaffing and the October 2025 medical care policy change are the primary drivers of rising deaths. DHS has not responded to the report's recommendations. The Office of Immigration Detention Ombudsman (OIDO), which Congress created in 2019 specifically to investigate these conditions, was shut down by DHS on May 5, 2026 — leaving no independent federal oversight mechanism for the 73,000+ person detention system.