Kyon Shakeel Swaso, a leading organizer of the ongoing hunger strike at the Adelanto Desert View Annex, has been deported to Belize after a series of transfers to detention facilities in Texas and Louisiana.
His deportation comes 11 days after he publicly raised concerns about conditions within the facility with members of Congress, Immigrant Defenders Law Center representatives stated in a press release.
Swaso, 35, was taken into ICE custody in August 2024 during a traffic stop in Augusta, Georgia. He had been detained at the Adelanto facility since June 2025, where he said he faced brutal conditions that led to the initiation of the hunger strike, which began on May 19, he told L.A. Taco during a June interview.
Prior to his deportation, Swaso released a statement about the injustices he and other detainees faced inside the California detention center that prompted the hunger strike.
“Things need to change. We are trying to get support and get back to our families. The treatment in detention is political. It trickles down from the President to the agencies. Despite everything we are facing, people here continue to support one another and stand together in unity.”
Esmeralda Santos, Lead Organizer at the Inland Coalition for Immigrant Justice, added that the deportation of Swaso is an attempt to silence firsthand accounts of conditions inside immigrant detention centers across the country.
According to Sen. Adam Schiff, at least 40 Adelanto detainees were reported to be on a hunger strike to protest inhumane conditions such as solitary confinement for speaking out, filthy water and moldy food at the High Desert facility. Advocates say they now face retaliation.
Detention facilities have faced scrutiny over dehumanizing conditions that led to multiple deaths. Winn Correctional Center announced the latest death in detention on June 8, bringing the total number of reported deaths in ICE custody to at least 51 since President Trump returned to office.
Immigrant Defenders Law Center filed a Stay of Removal and a Motion to Reopen to continue Swaso’s proceedings, but on June 12, the Department of Homeland Security confirmed that he was deported to Belize.
“The deportation of Mr. Swaso does nothing to erase the truth he tried to bring to light about the deplorable conditions in Adelanto ICE Prison,” said Melissa Shepard, legal services director at the Immigrant Defenders Law Center. “We stand in solidarity with the courageous hunger strikers who are risking their health and their lives to demand basic dignity inside Adelanto.”
McKenna Mobley is a reporter for the Daily Press. She can be reached at mmobley@usatoday.com.
This article originally appeared on Victorville Daily Press: Man who began hunger strike in Adelanto ICE facility deported to Belize
Reporting by McKenna Mobley, Victorville Daily Press / Victorville Daily Press
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By McKenna Mobley, Victorville Daily Press | USA TODAY Network
