Department of Homeland Security purchases two additional detention centers in California for $950 million

WASHINGTON- The Department of Homeland Security purchased two immigration detention centers in Adelanto for $950 million, according to the private prison company that sold them.

The sale by GEO Group, a Florida-based government contractor, follows the sale over the summer of two other California detention centers for $1.5 billion by GEO’s competitor, CoreCivic of Tennessee.

The sales further the Trump administration’s goal of shoring up its ability to detain immigrants it seeks to deport and reflect efforts to avoid oversight from California and other states by placing the facilities under federal ownership, although they would still be operated by private companies.

The most recent sale, announced Monday, includes the two buildings that make up the 1,940-bed Adelanto ICE Processing Center and the 704-bed Desert View Annex.

Homeland Security said California’s laws, which increase oversight of immigration centers, make federal property essential to ensuring necessary detention capacity is maintained on the West Coast.

A spokesperson, who did not provide his name in an emailed statement, said ICE “is ensuring we have the resources necessary to carry out President Trump’s mission.”

Last week, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed more than 20 bills aimed at thwarting the Trump administration’s immigration agenda. Among them are bills that will authorize California’s attorney general to bring civil actions to protect the constitutional rights of inmates and that will require the disclosure of public records, such as 911 calls, from facilities.

Homeland Security has taken steps to circumvent these laws, including purchasing facilities. As companies including GEO Group face what Chief Executive Officer George C. Zoley called “unwarranted litigation” over allegedly unsafe conditions, federal ownership could become part of their defense strategy.

In total, the federal government has now spent nearly $3.2 billion on detention center purchases, the majority in California. CoreCivic sold two more facilities, in Minnesota and Kansas, in August.

These sales were made possible by last year’s infusion of $45 billion for immigrant detention under President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, as the administration seeks to expand its immigrant detention capacity.

In its announcement, GEO Group said it will continue to manage day-to-day operations at the facility under the company’s existing contract with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which is effective through December 19, 2034.

The company said it is engaged in an “active process” with Homeland Security for the potential sale of several other facilities. These sales are dependent on GEO Group’s ability to continue to manage these facilities under long-term contracts, the company wrote.

“We are pleased with the completion of these important asset sales to the U.S. federal government and look forward to continuing to provide high-quality, secure support services under our existing long-term contracts with ICE,” Zoley, the company’s CEO, wrote in a press release.

“We are proud of our 40-year public-private partnership with ICE and stand ready to continue helping the federal government meet its immigration enforcement priorities,” Zoley added.

Reacting to the news, Rep. Norma Torres (D-Pomona) wrote on X that Congress must continue to provide oversight and hold ICE and GEO Group accountable for conditions at the facilities.

“Taxpayers are forced to spend $950 million to purchase three aging detention centers, then continue paying GEO Group to run them until 2034,” she wrote. “We pay hundreds of millions for the facilities and billions more to operate them, while ICE works to limit oversight of unsafe conditions. Taxpayers should not have to foot the bill twice for a broken, for-profit detention system.”

In a conference call with shareholders in August, Zoley said ICE was considering purchasing more than 10 facilities and that number “could continue to grow.”

“We are looking at a potential sale of the buildings, but we want to keep the business,” he said on the call. “We view ourselves primarily as a support services operator and will place particular emphasis on our ability to continue our support services at all facilities sold to ICE. »

GEO Group said it expects to receive $705 million in sales proceeds, after taxes and transaction fees. The company wrote that the net proceeds would reduce the company’s debt and facilitate the repurchase of the company’s stock.

The Adelanto facility, about 60 miles northeast of Los Angeles, has been the subject of complaints, lawsuits and visits from members of Congress.

Immigrant rights groups filed a federal class-action lawsuit against DHS this year, alleging a lack of clean water, food, sanitation and medical care at the ICE processing center in Adelanto, and a federal judge ordered improvements.

Four people have died at the facility since last year, according to Homeland Security records. The agency often says inmates receive comprehensive medical care and, for many, it’s the best they’ve ever received.

A mortality study conducted by ICE investigators for Ismael Ayala-Uribe found that the facility’s medical staff committed repeated failures and “deviationd beyond the safe limits of practice.” ICE removed the records, but the investigative publication Project Salt Box downloaded and published them.

Ayala-Uribe, 39, who fell ill at this facility, then suffered cardiac arrest in a hospital during surgery related to a pelvic abscess in September 2025.

More detention space could be coming to California. Last month, Homeland Security signed a $1.2 billion construction contract to expand a federal facility in El Centro that ICE previously used but which GEO Group now operates for the U.S. Marshals Service, the Salt Box Project first reported.