Detained migrant paid $1 a day to clean ICE facility, calls it exploitation
Jul 10, 2026·Location: Adelanto, CA
Country of origin: Mexico

José Luis, a Mexican man nicknamed 'El acomedido,' was detained by ICE on a street in southern California and held at the GEO Group-run Adelanto detention center, where he was paid just $1 a day to clean tables, bathrooms, dining areas and other common spaces through the facility's Voluntary Work Program. He said he took the work because his family could not deposit money into his account, leaving him needing income for basic items like instant noodles, toothpaste and soap that the facility was supposed to provide. He returned home with a fungal nail infection he suspects came from cleaning toilets, and as the sole provider for his family, his wife and children were left without support during his detention. Advocates, including Juan José Gutiérrez of the Full Rights Coalition for Immigrants, describe the $1-a-day wage as labor exploitation by GEO Group, a company valued at roughly $4 billion. The account comes amid a separate case in which GEO Group agreed to pay California regulators over $100,000 after Cal/OSHA found the company failed to provide protective equipment or training to detainees at its Golden State Annex facility who cleaned mold and handled toxic chemicals.
Sources
- Detrás de los muros de Adelanto: dientes arrancados, celdas de castigo y el grito silenciado de los migrantes
Univision·Jun 9, 2026
- $1 a day to clean a detention center: The ‘labor exploitation’ of migrants in ICE jails
El País·Jul 10, 2026·archived copy
- El País
- “No soporto más”: Cartas de detenidos revelan cómo es la vida dentro del centro de detención de ICE en Adelanto
Excelsior California·Feb 28, 2026
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