In a move that has reignited debates over immigration detention conditions and retaliation against activist detainees, a Belizean man who emerged as a key organizer of a high-profile hunger strike at a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in California has been deported back to his home country. Immigrant rights organizations are calling the deportation an act of retaliation for Kyron Shakeel Swaso’s public criticism of abusive and unsanitary conditions inside the Adelanto ICE Processing Center.
Per accounts from local outlet CALÒ News and legal nonprofit Immigrant Defenders Law Center (ImmDef), Swaso’s removal followed a pattern of improper transfers to detention facilities in Texas and Louisiana, carried out in what advocates say is violation of existing legal requirements. His deportation came fewer than 14 days after he held a meeting with members of the U.S. Congress, where he helped deliver a formal petition signed by 150 fellow detainees detailing systemic poor conditions at the Adelanto site.
The document signed by detainees raised multiple serious allegations: toxic mould growth in holding areas, contaminated drinking water supplies, insufficient and low-quality food, and persistent barriers to accessing necessary medical care. In a final statement released before his deportation, Swaso emphasized the demands of the protesting detainees. “We want this place shut down and we want to be released… Our due process rights are being violated. They are using taxpayer dollars to abuse immigrants. The things they say publicly do not match what we are living through,” he said.
ImmDef’s legal team has pushed back against the government’s process, confirming that Swaso was transferred out of California without the mandatory advance notice required under a federal court order. The organization argues the irregular transfers and subsequent deportation were explicitly retaliatory measures targeting Swaso for his leadership in the hunger strike and his willingness to bring detention abuses to national attention.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the federal agency that oversees ICE, has confirmed Swaso’s deportation but forcefully rejected all claims of retaliation. According to remarks shared with DemocracyNow, DHS stated that Swaso had already received a final, legally binding order of removal, and his transfer and deportation followed standard operating procedures for immigration removal cases. The agency also outlined background on Swaso’s immigration history: he entered the United States on a tourist visa in 2019, and overstayed the terms of his visa. DHS additionally claimed Swaso faced a series of criminal charges, including aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer, illegal firearm possession, and drug possession.
ImmDef has pushed back against these criminal allegations, countering that the only charges on record against Swaso are minor drug offenses that were ultimately dismissed and cleared through post-conviction relief processes. The organization says Swaso has no other active convictions on his record.
Beyond the dispute over Swaso’s deportation, DHS has also denied that any hunger strike is currently ongoing at the Adelanto facility, and rejected all allegations of systemic abuse against detainees. This official denial stands in direct contradiction to claims from current detainees and immigrant rights advocates, who have repeatedly documented poor conditions at the site. Local reporting from CALÒ News has recorded at least four detainee deaths at the Adelanto facility in recent years, further fueling calls for independent oversight and facility closure.
