Conditions in ICE detention are abhorrent.
It’s not by mistake.
Cruelty is the point.
Detainees at the Krome Detention Center in Miami, Florida and the Bluebonnet Detention Facility in Anson, Texas spell out “S-O-S” with their bodies.
The number of people in ICE detention is soaring.
65,000
people in ICE detention as of November 30th, 2025.
73% of people detained by ICE have no criminal record. Those that do mostly committed non-violent crimes or have minor convictions for traffic or immigration violations.
None of them have been sentenced to be there.
The duration of their detention is indefinite.
There is no schedule for their release.
Cells are tiny and densely packed, often exceeding the capacity they were designed to hold. Record detention rates have led to overcrowding at many facilities.
A shortage of beds forces detainees to sleep on cold concrete floors with just Mylar blankets for warmth.
Lights in cells and holding areas are left on 24-hours a day, windows and natural light are sparse. Temperatures inside range from freezing to hellish.
Meals are meager, highly-processed, and lack nutritional value.
Detainees at 26 Federal Plaza in Manhattan were fed military MREs.
At the Krome Detention Center in Miami, meals consisted of rice and a cup of water each day.
The food served in ICE detention is frequently expired, frozen, spoiled, rotten, or moldy. Food poisoning, vomiting, and diarrhea is common. Portion sizes are insufficient, leaving detainees hungry and malnourished.
Sanitation and hygiene is severely neglected.
Cells are dirty and infested with insects.
Detainees are usually not provided a change of clothes or an opportunity to wash them, so they must wear the same dirty clothing for days and weeks on end.
Showers are infrequent. Detainees are denied soap, deodorant, toothbrushes, and menstrual products.
“One woman who had her period while she was detained was not able to obtain any menstrual products because the guards only gave the women in her hold room two pads to share among them. As a result, she had no way to prevent her underwear and pants from becoming saturated with blood. Because she was never given a change of clothes, she had to thereafter remain in her bloodsoaked clothes for the duration of her detention.”
Some facilities have few toilets, others provide toilets in each cell—privacy is non-existent.
Toilets are frequently clogged, broken, or overflowing. Communal showers are riddled with mildew and mold, raw sewage might backup through the drains.
Detainees complain of illness or severe pain and are ignored. They’re given vitamins and Tylenol or simply instructed to drink water.
Detention center staff withhold prescription medications from detainees who rely on them. Detainees suffering from chronic illnesses are denied treatments like chemotherapy or dialysis.
“Fernando Viera Reyes is also seeking medical care on an emergency basis, as he has a high probability of having prostate cancer, according to previous blood tests. Since his arrival at California City in late August, he has reported progressively worsening symptoms, including urinary bleeding and extreme pain, among other worrying symptoms consistent with a prostate cancer diagnosis. Nearly four months later, medical staff at the facility have not taken the necessary steps to diagnose his condition, leaving him at risk of death that could have been prevented had ICE taken timely action.”
— From an ACLU press release announcing litigation to compel medical care for two men detained at the California City Detention Facility in California City, California. Yuri Roque Campos and Fernando Viera Reyes were denied medication and medical treatment for their life-threatening illnesses by ICE for months while detained at the California City Detention Facility.
Disabled detainees are completely unaccommodated.
“Plaintiff Jose Ruiz Canizales is currently detained at the California City Detention Facility under the authority of DHS and ICE. He was born Deaf and communicates through American Sign Language. He cannot read lips or effectively communicate in writing. Since his arrival at California City on August 29, 2025, Mr. Ruiz Canizales has only once interacted with staff through a sign language interpreter, via video. Without a regular interpreter, he has been left completely isolated. He cannot understand staff directions, ask for medical care, or effectively communicate with others. When he tries to communicate with staff, they often shrug their shoulders, walk away, or laugh at him.”
Pregnant women do not receive prenatal care. They are left to miscarry in shackles.
Detainees showing obvious signs of life-threatening medical distress and desperately pleading for help are dismissed.
“Andrea also recalled another young woman with gallstones asking repeatedly for her medication: ‘After two days, she started vomiting green bile. She started to lose consciousness, and we were yelling for help. It took two hours to get the officers’ attention, and then another 20 minutes before they took her to the hospital. There, doctors removed her gallbladder. They brought her back to the cell in Krome within two days.’”
— From “You Feel Like Your Life Is Over”, a report on the abusive treatment of detainees in three Florida immigration detention centers between January 2025 and July 2025, published by Human Rights Watch.
ICE detention is officially non-punitive, but the distinction between immigration detention and incarceration is indiscernible.
Use of solitary confinement in ICE detention is prevalent and capricious. Thousands of detainees were subjected to solitary confinement in 2025.
Detainees are frequently placed in solitary confinement cells for arbitrary infractions or in retaliation against them for acts of defiance, protesting, reporting abuse, and even for refusing to participate in voluntary work programs.
A study conducted by Physicians for Human Rights determined that the average duration of solitary confinement in ICE detention is 29 days.
The United Nations considers solitary confinement for more than 15 days to be torture.
ICE document authorizing the release of Guillermo Serrabi, an El Salvadoran immigrant, after spending 88 days in solitary confinement at the Baker County Detention Center in Macclenny, Florida during late 2021.
Physical and sexual abuse by detention center staff is commonplace.
Detainees frequently report beatings and excessive use of force by detention center staff.
“On or around October 17, 2025, I turned off a light on the way to the yard. That is what triggered an altercation with an officer who spoke Spanish. The officer started insulting me, and I sat down on the floor. After that, he called the second officer who came and they had an exchange in English that I did not understand. Then both of them tried to cuff me. I didn't know why they were trying to cuff me. Then the rest of the officers started piling onto me and using their bodies to block the security camera. Blocking the camera with their bodies is a tactic I have seen them do before with other detained people. Then, the officers body-slammed me and started to beat me. My front right tooth broke from the force of being slammed to the ground. Then, even more officers came. One of the officers grabbed my testicles and firmly crushed them. An officer forced his fingers deep into my ears. Since then, I have had a lot of trouble hearing out of my left ear. I can't hear as well now. After cuffing me, the officers pulled my fingers back very painfully, almost to the point that it felt like my fingers might break. The officers continued beating me. An officer then started punching into the side and front of my mouth at which point I bit down on it. I was in so much pain and I still have marks from the incident on my body.”
— “Samuel”, a teenager detained in ICE custody at Camp East Montana at Fort Bliss; from his sworn declaration obtained by the ACLU of Texas.
It’s hard to know for sure just how many people are abused in ICE custody. Fear of retaliation—a well-founded fear—prevents detainees from speaking out. Once they’re deported, pursuing justice becomes much harder.
“AW Reyes repeatedly stalked and cornered [Jane Doe] in the warehouse or medical hallway, places he told her were ‘camera blind spots’ in the facility. There, he would force her to perform oral sex on him on a near daily basis, threatening to kill her if she refused. When [Jane Doe] attempted to resist, he stated ‘If you don't do this, you will go to the smooth [solitary confinement] and your family will know everything.’ On another occasion, he stated ‘I know where you are. I know where your family is. In the DR, you won't have any protection and anybody can go over there and give you a visit.’”
— From the factual basis attachment of a tort claim filed by the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Human Rights on behalf of “Jane Doe”, a Dominican woman who was sexually abused repeatedly by a warden named Manuel Reyes at the South Louisiana ICE Processing Center (SLIPC) in Basile, Louisiana during the period she was detained there between November 2023 and January 2025.
What we do know—there are already far too many documented reports of abuse. There are certainly more that remain unknown.
38 detainees have died in ICE custody since January 2025. Two from suicide.
These are their names:
GENRY RUIZ GUILLEN • Died January 23rd, 2025
SERAWIT GEZAHEGN DEJENE • Died January 29th, 2025
MAKSYM CHERNYAK • Died February 20th, 2025
JUAN ALEXIS TINEO-MARTINEZ • Died February 23rd, 2025
BRAYAN RAYO-GARZON • Died April 8th, 2025
NHON NGOC NGUYEN • Died April 16th, 2025
MARIE ANGE BLAISE • Died April 25th, 2025
ABELARDO AVELLENEDA-DELGADO • Died May 5th, 2025
JESUS MOLINA-VEYA • Died June 7th, 2025
JOHNNY NOVIELLO • Died June 23rd, 2025
ISIDRO PEREZ • Died June 26th, 2025
TIEN XUAN PHAN • Died July 19th, 2025
CHAOFENG GE • Died August 5th, 2025
LORENZO ANTONIO BATREZ VARGAS • Died August 31st, 2025
OSCAR DUARTE RASCON • Died September 8th, 2025
SANTOS REYES-BANEGAS • Died September 18th, 2025
ISMAEL AYALA URIBE • Died September 22nd, 2025
NORLAN GUZMAN-FUENTES • Died September 24th, 2025
HUABING XIE • Died September 29th, 2025
MIGUEL ANGEL GARCIA-HERNANDEZ • Died September 29th, 2025
LEO CRUZ-SILVA • Died October 4th, 2025
HASAN ALI MOH'D SALEH • Died October 11th, 2025
GABRIEL GARCIA-AVILES • Died October 23rd, 2025
KAI YIN WON • Died October 25th, 2025
FRANCISCO GASPAR-ANDRES • Died December 3rd, 2025
PETE SUMALO MONTEJO • Died December 5th, 2025
SHIRAZ FATEHALI SACHWANI • Died December 6th, 2025
JEAN WILSON BRUTUS • Died December 12th, 2025
FOUAD SAEED ABDULKADIR • Died December 14th, 2025
DELVIN FRANCISCO RODRIGUEZ • Died December 14th, 2025
NENKO STANEV GANTCHEV • Died December 15th, 2025
GERALDO LUNAS CAMPOS • Died January 3rd, 2026
LUIS GUSTAVO NUNEZ CACERES • Died January 5th, 2026
LUIS BELTRAN YANEZ–CRUZ • Died January 6th, 2026
PARADY LA • Died January 9th, 2026
VICTOR MANUEL DIAZ • Died January 14th, 2026
HEBER SÁNCHEZ • Died January 14th, 2026
2025 was the deadliest year in ICE detention since 2004.
Almost all deaths in ICE detention are preventable. One study found 95% could have been avoided.
ICE lets people die. Sometimes it murders them.
“I mean people die in ICE custody, people die in county jail, people die in state prisons…we have the highest detention standards in the industry,”
—Tom Homan, Trump administration “border czar” and former Acting Director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement
On June 30th, 2025 in response to a reporter’s request for comment on the death of 75-year-old Isidro Perez in ICE custody.
