Detainee with suspected prostate cancer denied specialist care at ICE facility, joins class-action lawsuit
Feb 6, 2026·Location: California City, CA

Fernando Viera Reyes, a 50-year-old detainee transferred to California City ICE Detention Facility in August 2025, was denied specialist care despite showing symptoms of prostate cancer. While at a previous ICE facility, Viera Reyes had been scheduled for a urologist-recommended prostate biopsy in March 2025. After his transfer, despite experiencing bloody urine, pain, difficulty urinating, and blood in stool, medical staff provided only Flomax intermittently and vitamin C instead of connecting him with a urologist. His PSA levels rose from 6.3 to 74 between January and October 2025, indicating very high likelihood of prostate cancer. A medical expert review described his treatment as "a complete dereliction of duty." On November 12, 2025, Viera Reyes filed an emergency motion and joined seven other detainees in a class-action lawsuit against the Trump administration alleging severe medical neglect at the privately-owned CoreCivic facility. By February 2026, the case was being heard in federal court in San Francisco.
Timeline
Sources
- The Cruel Conditions of ICE’s Mojave Desert Detention Center
The New Yorker·Jan 28, 2026·archived copy
- Immigrants Detained by ICE Sue Immigration Detention Center for Medical Neglect and Other Conditions
aclu-in.org·Dec 19, 2025·archived copy
aclu-or.org·Dec 17, 2025·archived copy
- sut21vdmms01.kqed.org
- modbee.com
- desertsun.com
- Federal lawsuit alleges inhumane conditions at Adelanto ICE Processing Center
abc7.com·Jan 27, 2026·archived copy
- Judge Orders ICE to Provide Medical Care in Largest Immigration Jail in California
- assets.aclu.org
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