Man detained at California ICE facility dies in custody; 9th such death this year, LA council member says

Alberto Gutierrez Reyes, a 48-year-old father and husband, died in U.S. and Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody on Friday, Feb. 27, after being detained inside the Adelanto ICE Processing Center for less than two months, according to authorities.

Two days before his death, Gutierrez reported feeling sick and was taken to the Victor Valley Global Medical Center where he died, according to ICE.

Gutierrez is the ninth person known to have died in ICE custody this year, said Los Angeles City Council member Eunisses Hernandez in a social media post.

ICE declined to confirm the number of people who have died in their custody so far in 2026. It is unclear how many people have been detained this year.

Last year, Ismael Ayala-Uribe, 39, and Gabriel Garcia-Aviles, 56, died after being detained inside the Adelanto ICE Processing Center. Ayala-Uribe didn’t receive the medical care he needed while in ICE’s custody, according to his family’s lawyer.

Gutierrez was detained on Jan. 9, in LA’s Echo Park neighborhood, according to a GoFundMe campaign organized to cover the funeral costs and to provide financial assistance to his family.

Hernandez condemned the death of one of her constituents in a social media post.

“The Trump administration does not value human life. They are using our federal tax dollars to bankroll detention and a deadly deportation machine instead of funding healthcare, food, housing, education, and the systems that actually keep people alive,” the post said. “A system rooted in white supremacy and designed to cage, torture, neglect, and dehumanize human beings cannot be reformed. It must be abolished.”

For years, the Adelanto ICE Processing Center has been plagued by alleged and documented cases of abuse and neglect.

Recently, an LA non-profit and four detainees filed a proposed class action lawsuit alleging inhumane conditions inside the Adelanto ICE Processing Center. The lawsuit claims the government is denying people detained in Adelanto with “basic human needs” such as “food, clothing, shelter, medical care, and reasonable safety” and that this amounts to punishment and violates their constitutional right to due process of law.

A longtime facility employee warned that the facility’s population surge in 2025 was “dangerous” because the facility did not have enough experienced staff, the lawsuit alleges.

ICE claims that Gutierrez was convicted of inflicting corporal injury on a spouse or cohabitant in 2010, but the Southern California News Group’s search for the purported crimes turned up no results.

ICE has not responded to questions about Gutierrez’s purported crime, the medical treatment he sought in ICE custody, or preexisting health conditions he had while in ICE custody.

GEO Group, the private-prison company that owns and operates the Adelanto ICE facilities, referred questions to ICE.

“ICE is committed to ensuring that all those in custody reside in safe, secure and humane environments. Comprehensive medical care is provided from the moment individuals arrive and throughout the entirety of their stay. All people in ICE custody receive medical, dental and mental health intake screenings within 12 hours of arriving at each detention facility; a full health assessment within 14 days of entering ICE custody or arrival at a facility; access to medical appointments; and 24-hour emergency care. At no time during detention is a detained alien denied emergency care,” ICE said in a news release.