Under the administration of former President Donald Trump, immigration detention policies went further to increase ICE operations. Like so many other areas, this troubling trend impacted the U.S. criminal justice system directly. These incompatibilities have resulted in the incarceration of immigrants in federal penitentiaries. Similar facilities, like notorious places like Guantánamo Bay, or prisons in El Salvador, are currently detaining them. The Bureau of Prisons (BoP) has entered into an interagency agreement with ICE. This agreement allows ICE to continue to detain people in five BoP facilities across the country, raising significant implications for conditions and oversight.
ICE is already facing intense scrutiny for its heavy-handed enforcement actions. Yet it is failing to keep up with the escalating detainee population and frequently holds them in abusive and neglectful facilities. Documented abuses paint a picture of overcrowding, neglect to the point of death, and denials of basic healthcare. ICE’s FCI Berlin in New Hampshire has severely limited immigrants’ access to their communities. This isolation further exacerbates their legal predicaments and heightens their trauma.
ICE’s Expanding Role in Federal Prisons
Yet under the Trump administration, ICE has actively worked to expand its presence within the federal prison system. We transport immigration detainees to other Bureau of Prisons facilities. Prominent examples are found across Miami, Philadelphia, and Berlin, as well as New Hampshire and Leavenworth, Kansas. Together these steps have made these sites into the perfect informal immigration detention centers. This should send shockwaves through the administration as to the legality and morality of the transfers.
As ICE’s operations increasingly branch into these facilities, they have encountered severe backlash. Experiences shared in our report by detainees at FCI Atlanta documented similar disastrous and chaotic conditions during their transfers. As one detainee recounted, it was “pure pandemonium,” noting there was zero communication at all and nothing organized at any step of the way.
“The place was filthy and disgusting. There was no communication. It was just chaos, and I had to deal with the mental state of not knowing what was happening and whether I’d be there for two months, three months, six months.” – A detainee about his move to FCI Atlanta
News reports have shown that at least some detainees never made it to their scheduled court appearances. This should set off the highest level alarms about violations of due process. Advocates such as Samantha Hamilton have long been alarmed by the systemic problems that prevent detainees from accessing justice.
“I fear there are many others who have been prevented from going to their hearings. That’s a denial of due process.” – Samantha Hamilton
Concerns Over Conditions and Oversight
The BoP system has already been under fire for its crumbling infrastructure as well as widespread reports of systemic abuse by its officers. Immigrants currently being held in these facilities, which advocates claim are becoming increasingly inhumane. With this increased demand, overcrowding has become a considerable problem, sparking increased morale and resource scarcity.
An incarcerated woman voiced her frustrations regarding the deteriorating conditions, stating, “It’s as if we’re animals. This prison already wasn’t livable, and now they’re adding more people into a place that’s so unsafe and inhumane.” These sentiments represent an increasing concern among detainees about their safety and health, including both psychological and physical impacts.
Former employees at institutions like FCI Berlin and Philadelphia have faced criminal indictments. In addition, they were accused of engaging in widespread bribery and contraband operations. It begs the question of the integrity of such a staff charged to oversee a facility such as this. Most importantly, it highlights the depth of oversight lacking by ICE and the BoP.
“Their level of disrespect and disdain for members of Congress is pretty obvious … There is a very strong culture in the Bureau of Prisons of not adhering to their responsibilities by law.” – Mark DeSaulnier
The Future of Immigration Detention
ICE is continuing to grow its presence in the BoP system. According to news reports, it is considering such extreme measures as reopening closed facilities and using military bases as detention centers. One prison on the chopping block would be FCI Dublin in California, which was the subject of a scathing investigation into egregious neglect.
These changes came as a surprise and raised the hackles of advocates. They worry that ICE’s detection and removal strategies will exacerbate pre-existing problems rather than alleviate them. Just last week, a Miami officer was charged with sexually abusing an imprisoned person. This tragedy illustrates the extreme dangers from housing immigration detainees in a broken and dysfunctional prison system.
“It’s violating people’s rights and it’s a huge waste of money. It’s the opposite of Doge.” – John Gihon
Concerns over healthcare accessibility have emerged. This is not an abstract concern. Detainees have documented extreme challenges in receiving essential medical treatment while detained within these facilities. John Kostelnik described his experience, stating, “We could not keep up with providing medical care. It was a nightmare.”
This expansion raises a number of foundational questions. What would be required for ICE to responsibly manage its growing population of detainees, while safeguarding their rights and dignity? With advocates warning that things could go in the opposite direction, they’re keeping a close eye on what’s happening as the volatile immigration detention space continues to change.