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(6,919 posts) Tue Jun 9, 2026, 11:31 AM 4 hrs ago

Migrants at the mercy of gangs: ICE detainees forced to live alongside organized crime

https://english.elpais.com/usa/2026-06-09/migrants-at-the-mercy-of-gangs-ice-detainees-forced-to-live-alongside-organized-crime.html

Migrants at the mercy of gangs: ICE detainees forced to live alongside organized crime

Los Paisas, Sureños, and Norteños are prison gangs that also operate inside the agency’s facilities alongside vulnerable migrants

ISAÍAS ALVARADO
Los Angeles - JUN 09, 2026 - 07:38 EDT

Esteban had never heard of the prison gang Los Paisas until he was held at the Adelanto immigrant detention center in California. As soon as he passed through the bars of his housing unit, other detainees made it clear he had to choose: join them or join another group made up of Russians, Indians, Chinese, and Armenians. He understood that doing neither would leave him defenseless, so he accepted. There was no initiation ritual and he was not asked to swear allegiance. The rules were simple: protect your own from violent people, settle internal disputes, and keep a measure of order in a place where authority often seemed insufficient. Over the months, deportations and transfers took away people he knew. They were replaced by newcomers, some of whom did not understand the dynamics of detention. He had to teach them. Before he knew it, Esteban was among the most long-standing members and, without seeking the role, he became one of the leaders of the gang.

“We Paisas are anyone who speaks Spanish: Mexicans, Central Americans, Cubans. A number of people who were gang members arrived with us, fully tattooed, who wanted to feel like they owned the place, wanted to boss the weakest around, and got violent. But we didn’t allow that. We banded together and told those people: ‘You know what? It’s going to be like this here, or you leave.’ We gave them a bag, they put their things in it, and they left on their own,” says Esteban, who agreed to speak to EL PAÍS on condition of anonymity.

This Hispanic man spent nearly a year in one of Adelanto’s housing areas reserved for detainees that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) considers medium- to high-risk. These hold people accused or convicted of serious crimes, including gang members, murderers, rapists, and drug traffickers. After serving their sentences in state or federal prisons, many are moved to immigration detention centers while they await deportation. In Adelanto, they are often identified by orange or red uniforms.

But in those same units are also migrants whose criminal cases remain open, as was the case with Esteban. He is charged with attempted homicide. Last year, while he was fighting his case out on bail, ICE agents arrested him as he was heading to his job in Los Angeles. Days later he was sent to Adelanto. “When I first arrived, there were a lot of problems. People were constantly getting into fights with each other. At first, I was afraid they’d label me as a gang member, but I became a Paisa because that’s what was expected. There was no other choice,” he recalls. He was released a few weeks ago and was able to return to his home in Los Angeles.

The Adelanto detention center, one of the largest in California, rises in the Mojave Desert about 90 miles northeast of Los Angeles. The facility, with capacity for 1,940 people, is operated by the private company GEO Group under a contract with ICE. For years it has been the subject of complaints alleging abuse, medical negligence, poor food, overcrowding and the deaths of migrants. A recent report from the California attorney general added another concern to the list: the alleged excessive use of force by security staff charged with overseeing the complex.

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