WASHINGTON, D.C. — Government reports cite terrible conditions in more than two dozen ICE detention centers from 2017 to 2019, as NPR reported today.
Inspectors found “ ‘negligent’ medical care (including mental health care), ‘unsafe and filthy’ conditions, racist abuse of detainees, inappropriate pepper-spraying of mentally ill detainees and other problems that, in some cases, contributed to detainee deaths.”
“Migrants have human dignity, and ICE detention centers must prioritize humane treatment,” said Jennie Murray, President and CEO of the National Immigration Forum. “The Biden administration must ensure that the conditions described in these reports do not persist today.
“The administration should move to increase the use of alternatives to detention, which have proved effective and save money, and decrease the number of people in detention facilities to begin with. It also should follow through on reducing its dependence on for-profit private prisons. These are measures we have called on multiple administrations, Republican and Democratic, to implement.
“The federal government must ensure that it is treating people with dignity and respect.”