ICE: Abuse, Neglect, and conditions within detention.
Protest sign which reads “Due Process is a right of every person in our country” from Unsplash, Chad Stembridge
Dozens of men, lying shoulder to shoulder on a cold concrete floor, exhausted, hungry, under bright fluorescent lights that never dimmed. The stench of an overflowing toilet. Others had coughed up blood and had their pleas for medical help ignored by guards. For many of the 59,000 people held within U.S immigration detention, this is not the “American Dream” they had imagined, but the painful reality they endure.
As the Trump administration continues to pursue the mass deportation agenda, the number of people crammed into immigration detention centers has risen exponentially. From January 2025 to September 2025, 59,000 people have been detained — 71% of whom had no criminal convictions, a 40% increase from the previous year. Interviews from Human Rights Watch from inside the facilities detail detainees describing the degrading and inhuman conditions in transport to these facilities and inside the facilities themselves, shackling during transport, overcrowding, neglect of medical care, and lack of basic resources.
Scope and Scale of Detention.
During the second presidency of Donald Trump, the scale of immigrants being detained in the U.S has expanded rapidly. As of September 21st 2025, 59,762 people were held in immigration and customs enforcement custody (ICE), with 71.5% having no prior criminal convictions. The rise of these detentions can be found within Trump’s promises during his second term, as his administration has repeatedly described immigration into the United States as a “national security crisis”. This framing has been used to justify use of military cargo planes for deportations, and expanded cooperation between local law enforcement and ICE, this has also allowed an increase of multi-country flights. Trumps second term immigration agenda had also focused “mass deportations” as a central promise. His administration has pushed for expanded detention authority, and new laws like the Laken Riley Act(2025), which mandates detention for a broader spectrum of non-citizens.
The expansion of detainees came despite the fact that detention facilities had decreased. In 2019, ICE spread detainees over 213 facilities nationwide, however in 2025 that number has dropped to 155 facilities, yet the population within kept rising, forcing larger centers to take in more detainees. In September 2019, ICE facilities did not have an ADP (average daily population) of over 1,000 detainees at a time at any facilities, as of June 2025, 13 facilities report an ADP of over 1,000 people, with the facility in Natchez Mississippi having an ADP of over 2,000 detainees on a consistent level.
Keeping detainees in fewer facilities has created a mountain of problems. Larger detention centers are often located within rural areas, far from legal aid organizations which has made it more difficult for detainees to contact their families or have access to their lawyers. The overcrowding within the facilities has also drained resources, many accounts from within the facilities report lack of bedding, lack of toiletry and lack of medical care to detainees. In some centers, detainees sleep on mats on the floor for weeks at a time, while others report waiting hours or even days to address urgent medical conditions. This is a concern for the wellbeing of the detainees and the conditions inside the facilities.
Many advocates note that the shift towards mega facilities reflects ICE’s growing reliance on private prison contractors. Many of the sites now housing thousands of detainees were once private prisons that were closed due to low demand or concerns about conditions, only to be reopened through lucrative government contracts. In April, ICE had requested to bypass contracting rules to fast-track new agreements for facilities within California, Michigan and other states, citing the southern border “emergency” as the urgent need to detain “aliens at-large that pose threats to national security and public safety.” Illegal border crossings plunged to about 7,000 in March, the lowest in decades. Many critics argue that this system is prioritizing capacity over human treatment, effectively warehousing detainees in environments designed for punishment rather than civil detention.
With the increase of detainees, the reliance of deportation flights has also increased. A report from Humans Rights First found that between January 2025 and August 2025, the Trump Administration conducted at least 7,454 deportation flights. Many which were carried out on military cargo planes, with detainees shackled by wrist, leg and waist chains for hours at a time, including any layovers and fuel stops, Over the course of January to August 2025, the Trump administration has conducted removal flights to at least 66 countries, the vast majority being to Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Mexico. For the first time since ICE flight tracking began (since 2020) flights departed from the United States since the second Trump Administration for countries such as Greece, Pakistan, Argentina, Chile, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan.
Given this, The administration has increased the use of multi-country removal flights — where a single flight removes detainees to several countries within a region. This has left many detainees to be shackled for longer than 30 hours, raising further concerns for the well-being of detainees and flight conditions of removal flights under the watch of ICE and the Trump administration. Before removal, detainees are often moved repeatedly between ICE detention centers via domestic “shuffle” flights, often with little notice to detainees, family members and lawyers. While the agency argues shuffling helps manage capacity, lawyers and advocacy groups say it isolates detainees from family and legal counsel, leaving them disoriented and vulnerable. On top of this, even offshore detention has returned. Human Rights First Documented at least 81 flights to Guantánamo Bay this year, raising concerns for detainees as the facility has long standing allegations of abuse and legal loopholes.
Intake and “La Hielera”
For many immigrants who enter ICE custody, the first stop is what detainees themselves have nicknamed, La Hielera, Spanish for “The Icebox.” These intake cells are kept cold, with hard concrete floors, fluorescent lights left on around the clock and no proper bedding provided to detainees. Many detainees which were interviewed consistently describe being forced to sleep on the hard concrete floors or metal benches, without jackets or blankets, sometimes even using their own clothes to cover their eyes from the bright light.
Human Rights Watch interviews detail how these cells quickly became overcrowded. In early 2025, men reported between 50 and 155 people crammed into single rooms, far beyond their intended capacity. Juan, a man from Guatemala, said over 60 men were within his cell; Pedro, a 21-year-old, said his cell had held more than 50. Harpinder Chauhan, a 56-year-old British detainee, said he was shuffled from room to room over three and a half days, including to a medical unit, eventually ending up in a space with 40 other men. “it was days in hell,” he said. Some men spent up to twelve days in intake, far beyond what it supposed to be temporary processing.
A recurring concern within these facilities is the sanitary conditions in which detainees are kept. Rosa, a woman from Honduras, said the single toilet in her cell had been covered in feces, and despite repeated requests for cleaning supplies, guards refused and mocked her, telling her that “housekeeping will come soon” No one had ever arrived and women were forced to relieve themselves in front of one another. Andrea, a woman from Argentina, was processed with more than 30 women in Krome, a male-only facility. She described the lack of showers or privacy, saying the women were told it was “not feasible” to create space for them to bathe. Other detainees told lawyers they were given a bucket to use as a toilet in front of each other, while those sleeping on the floor had to wake everyone else just to clear a path to reach the single toilet. The exposure of detained women to voyeurism by men, combined with dirty toilets and the failure to provide sanitary conditions, violates detainee protection policies under PBNDS Standard 4.4 (Sanitation and Hygiene) and Standard 2.10 (Sexual Abuse Prevention).
Meals during intake were incredibly inconsistent, often lacking nutritional value and options to those with medical conditions that required them to eat a certain diet. Detainees who were interviewed said that portions were small, mealtimes were irregular, and food was frequently inedible. Lunch sometimes arrived as late as 6 p.m. and dinner at 10 p.m., long after scheduled times. In overcrowded centers like Krome and FDC, detainees stated they were often forced to eat in their cells rather than in the canteen, with meals handed out haphazardly.
Chauhan, who suffers from diabetes and pancreatitis, said the food provided was not only inappropriate for his conditions but actively dangerous and worsening his health. Chauhan and Juan had recounted how a French man who was a pancreatic cancer survivor requested a medically necessary special diet at Krome. Juan said he had been with the French man who asked officers three times for authorization to get the special diet. “It eventually got authorized on paper, but at mealtime they gave him the same food as they gave us,” Juan said. “He needed protein, and they would give him lettuce.” Chauhan said he heard an ICE officer telling the French man, “I know more than your doctor does,” when he again asked for a special diet. others describe how they were forced to eat while shackled, bended over to take bites directly from chairs “like dogs” turning mealtime into an experience of humiliation. The treatment described violates Article 10(1) of the ICCPR, which requires that all persons deprived of liberty be treated with humanity and respect for their dignity. The dehumanizing transfer conditions described by interviewees violate CCPR Article 10(1) and CAT Article 16, which prohibit degrading treatment. They also contravene Mandela Rule 22, which requires that meals be served in a humane and dignified manner; Mandela Rule 47, which limits the use of restraints and prohibits their use as punishment or for prolonged periods.
Medical neglect was also common during intake. One detainees described coughing up blood in his crowded cell for hours before officers had acknowledged him. In another case officers shut off a CCTV feed during a medical emergency and ordered a disturbance-control team to storm the cell. Detainees were zip-tied face down on the filthy, wet floor. Staff also delayed or denied essential medications. Andrea recalled watching watching a diabetic woman collapse after officers refused to administer her insulin; she was hospitalized but returned to the cell just two days later. Another young woman with gallstones vomited bile and lost consciousness after her medication was withheld. Rosa recalled begging officers for menstrual pain relief and being given nothing but a sanitary pad.
Chauhan suffers from diabetes, pancreatitis, and heart disease. His family delivered a three-month supply of medications to Krome — including insulin he needs four times daily — but staff failed to administer them consistently. Chauhan said he began passing white stool, which he said was an indication of serious health issues. When he was transferred to FDC in early March, Chauhan received some heart medication and minimal insulin, but no medication for pancreatitis.During his transfer out of FDC on April 15, guards sent his medications to Krome while transferring him to BTC — despite his repeated attempts to alert staff that his medication needed to travel with him. After arriving at BTC, Chauhan was denied all medications. A doctor there dismissed his asthma diagnosis, saying, “No one has asthma over the age of 18,” and refused to hear about his medical history. Chauhan said, “He just wanted to lecture me on what I had done wrong in my life to get these conditions.” Five days later, on April 20, he collapsed while standing in the dinner line. His son, Aaron, was informed by a relative of Chauhan’s cellmate that Chauhan had been taken to the hospital, but BTC staff refused to provide any information. Aaron eventually learned from the local sheriff’s department that Chauhan had been taken to Broward Health North Hospital and, after hundreds of calls, got through to a supervisor who told him the staff had been told by ICE that they could not share anything about his father because he was in custody and because the “information is confidential.” After three days in the hospital, ICE transferred Chauhan back to BTC in shackles and he only then began receiving his medications regularly.
Accounts from inside also happen to align with outside evidence. In March 2025, Two videos posted onto filmed by a Mexican man and posted to TikTok apparently captured the overcrowded scene in one of these cells in late March. In one video, at least 25 men are either lying on the ground or sitting on benches, attempting to sleep under bright fluorescent lights. Several people are using clothes or items as face masks to cover their eyes. A wheelchair is in the middle of the room and one person can be seen walking using a cane. A local television news channel, WPLG Local 10, reported on the three videos in a report aired in March 2025 In the report, an immigration attorney says that they “have no doubt” that the videos were filmed in the facility, and those interviewed who were detained at Krome all confirmed the videos were filmed there. TRAC data from September confirmed that nearly 60,000 people were in ICE custody, a 40% increase from the year before, putting immense pressure on the already overcrowded facilities and the supplies they lack.
Medical Neglect and Deaths in Custody.
Medical neglect is one of the most consistent and fatal features of ICE detention, many testimonies given by detainees interviewed, speak on ignored pleas for medical help, waiting days or weeks for treatment, or being denied essential medications. The gap between policy and practice is astonishing, ICE’s own Performance-Based National Detention Standards (PBNDS) and the 2019 National Detention Standards (NDS) mandate adequate health care, but many accounts state otherwise. Human Rights Watch had documented multiple deaths this year tied in with lack of medical care and denied care, including those of Maksym Chernyak, a 44-year-old Ukrainian man, and Marie Ange Blaise, a Haitian woman. Both died in Florida after staff failed to respond to medical emergencies with urgency.
Testimonies from detainees show how normalized denial and neglect of medical care has become. Jose, a 26-year-old Cuban detainees described how a cellmate had begged for medical help as his cough had worsened. Guards had ignored the man until he had finally coughed blood into a tissue, only then would they act. Carlos, another detainee recalled how he woke up on May 28th in extreme abdominal and back pain. He called over an officer and asked him to see a medical provider. The officer refused, saying he did not think it was a medical emergency.
Carlos said, “I had to throw myself on the floor and when the officer told me to go outside for rec time, I said I could not get up. Finally, staff wheeled me to the medical team, where the doctor told me I likely just had gas, and offered me a Pepto-Bismol and two Tylenols. I had to again refuse to leave until the doctor finally agreed to send me to the hospital. The doctor at the hospital did a CAT scan and saw that I had a strangulated abdominal wall hernia. The doctor told me that if I had not come in then, my intestines would have likely ruptured.”
Female detainees also described dangerous neglect. Andrea and Rosa, who both arrived in late February, said officers refused to provide them even the medications they had with them when they were taken into ICE custody, claiming the facility was not authorized to provide medical care to women because it was a male-only detention facility Andrea was detained with a woman with diabetes who was hospitalized after officers refused to give her insulin to her. 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.
Unfortunately, lives have been lost due to the medical neglect that occurs within these facilities. Maksym Chernyak, a Ukrainian war refugee, told his wife that ICE pressured him to sign documents without a translator, and that he never understood what he was signing. Days later, he died in Krome custody. Chernyak had chronic medical conditions that required regular monitoring, yet his pleas for care went largely unanswered. Fellow detainees reported that he struggled visibly during his time in custody, showing clear signs of distress that staff dismissed or ignored. His death has since been cited by advocates as emblematic of ICE’s reliance on coercion and neglect: instead of ensuring he understood his rights or received treatment, officers hurried him through intake and left him to deteriorate.
Marie Ange Blaise, a Haitian woman detained in Florida, also died under circumstances tied to delayed medical response. Detainees said she complained of worsening symptoms but was left without timely attention. By the time staff intervened, it was too late. Her death underscored a pattern long documented by rights groups: facility staff often dismiss detainees’ health concerns until they escalate into emergencies.
The scale of preventable harm is distressing. Since the start of the mass deportation agenda from the Trump Administration in January 2025, there have been at least sixteen people have died in ICE custody. Many advocates say that the toll is likely higher, as ICE provides very few details about causes of death. Family members often learn of hospitalization days later, if at all. In Chauhan’s case, his son only found out through a sheriff’s department after calling hundreds of times. The transparency around deaths underscores how little accountability exists inside detention.
Mental Health, Solitary Confinement, and Retaliation.
Mental health care inside of ICE detention is rather lackluster. Detainees describe the mental health care as “punitive” rather than therapeutic. While facilities normally provide access to psychological support, detainees are afraid to ask for help, as asking has often led to punishment. At BTC in Florida, women described being placed in solitary confinement for weeks at a time after expressing emotional distress or requesting counseling. Rosa, a detainee from Honduras, said,
“If you ask for help, they isolate you. If you cry, they might take you away for two weeks. So people stay silent.”
Rather than offering treatment, restraint, isolation and fear among detainees have been used as a tool to control and silence detainees. One woman was taken repeatedly to the psychiatric ward, where she said her hands and feet were restrained for extended periods, compounding her trauma. Carlos, a male detainee at Krome, said he only received psychological support after declaring himself suicidal. Even then, he was limited to a five or ten minute session with a mental health professional once a month, a far cry from meaningful therapy
These practices of control rather than helping detainees, creates a sense of fear that discourages detainees from seeking help at all. The United Nations’ Mandela Rules explicitly prohibit punitive isolation as a response to mental health conditions, requiring instead that care be delivered in a therapeutic context. The U.S., however, continues to fall short of these standards. Many advocates warn that prolonged solitary confinement not only exacerbates mental illness but can itself constitute cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment under international law.
With the lack of proper mental health help, another condition that harms detainees is the lack of structured and recreational activities within the facilities. Detainees interviewed have reported weeks without recreation, education or programming, with many forced to choose between their hour of outdoor time or purchasing commissary goods. Such isolation and deprivation serve to break detainees down, leaving them less able to fight their cases with a solid mental state, many are willing to accept deportation after being broken down for such long periods. The mental anguish is near torturous for detainees, afraid of seeking support and accepting the reality of their situations instead of fighting their cases.
Oversight Gap vs. Written Standards.
On paper ICE facilities are bounded by detailed rules meant to safeguard the dignity and health of those in custody. The 2011 Performance-Based National Detention Standards (PBNDS) and the 2019 National Detention Standards (NDS) lay out everything from medical access and hygiene to the treatment of vulnerable populations. International frameworks like the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the Convention Against Torture (CAT) reinforce these obligations, as do the Mandela Rules, which set minimum protections for those deprived of liberty.
However, In practice, the split between what is on paper and what is lived could not be more wider. Detainees interviewed consistently report conditions that violate these standards: lack of bedding, denial of medication, punitive use of solitary confinement, lack of proper toiletry, these failures are nothing short of systemic breakdowns, patterns which are repeated throughout facilities nationwide.
A part of the problem lies within the erosion of oversight itself, under the Trump administration, two key oversight offices tasked monitoring civil rights and detention conditions within the Department of Homeland Security were eliminated: the Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties (CRCL) and the Office of the Immigration Detention Ombudsman (OIDO). Both offices had served as overseers, they would receive complaints, conduct investigations into conditions and recommending actions to correct conditions when facilities would fall short. However their elimination has left a large hole to be filled, removing independent mechanisms of accountability at the moment that the amount of detainees would rise.
Without these safeguards, compliance with detention standards relies largely on ICE’s internal reporting, a system critics say is both bleak and full with conflicts of interest. The result in the elimination of these offices, is a lack of accountability for conditions within ICE facilities, and a lack of compliance with rules and mandates already set, facilities have been constantly reported for the lack of human conditions but fall short of scrutiny, many detainees grievances and concerns have and continue to go unheard, with many cases of abuse unrecorded, deaths not properly accounted for, and rights unenforced and respected.
How many more lives does it take for change?
The expansion and push for the mass deportation agenda during President Trump’s second term has not only filled facilities beyond their capacity, but also exposed the shortcomings of the systems meant to govern them, intake cells crowded with dozens of men on cold concrete floors, women sharing cells with dozens more and forced to relieve themselves in front of one another, preventable medical deaths, and the silencing of mental health pleas reveal a infrastructure that consistently fails the standards it claims to uphold.
With the closure of oversight offices such as the Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties and the Office of the Immigration Detention Ombudsman, there are fewer channels for accountability than at any point in recent memory, standards on paper remain the same but there is no body to keep them in check. Without the proper channels of enforcement of rules, they are nothing more than words on paper to these facilities.
For the more than 59,000 people currently held within ICE custody, these are not just rules that are ignored, but their day-to-day reality. Their families and legal counsel left in the dark for days at a time, moving around with no proper notice, reflect a system where punishment has replaced protection. The United States doubles down on mass detention as a cornerstone of immigration policy, the question within continues to linger,
how many more lives will be compromised or lost before the gap between law and practice is finally closed?
- Edgar A. Luna
