Taxpayers still on hook for COVID-shuttered ICE facility amid objections by blue state lawmaker

Federal officials are again extending an evaluation of a mostly shuttered California detention center that can house thousands of illegal immigrants, with one lawmaker demanding the facility re-open amid continued costs.

“Although the Administration ended the COVID-19 national emergency over a year ago, the Adelanto ICE Facility continues to be prohibited from processing new detainees, Rep Jay Obernolte, R-Calif., told Fox News Digital. “In this extension, ICE and DOJ must work to bring this facility fully online so we can detain and deport the influx of illegal immigrants that are overwhelming our law enforcement and community support services.”

The facility in Adelanto, California, can house nearly 2,000 inmates but was blocked by a September 2020 court order in response to a lawsuit from immigrant activists calling for fewer inmates due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

ICE EXTENDS EVALUATION OF CALIFORNIA DETENTION FACILITY LEFT LARGELY EMPTY SINCE 2020

Despite the COVID-19 emergency expiring last year, the facility has yet to re-open and has only a handful of inmates living there. Fox News Digital reported in November that the facility was expected to close in December, but ICE then launched a 60-day task order to evaluate the effect of ongoing litigation, the costs of maintenance and the operational requirements.

The move suggested that, instead of closing the facility, ICE is trying to get it back open. But as it stands, the facility remains closed, even as other facilities both locally and across the country have re-opened and the U.S. has largely moved on from COVID. 

ICE DETENTION CENTER HOUSES HANDFUL OF INMATES DESPITE HAVING THOUSANDS OF BEDS: LAWMAKER 

A guard escorts an immigrant detainee from his segregation cell back into the general population at the Adelanto Detention Facility on November 15, 2013, in Adelanto, California. ((Photo by John Moore/Getty Images))

ICE extended the task order for another 60 days in January, and recently announced another extension that will extend the order until September. The task orders are implemented with GEO Group, which runs the facility and recently revealed that its contract generates $85 million in revenue per…