May 16, 2024

Wyden, Merkley, Colleagues Urge End of Private Immigration Detention Centers, Demand Closure of Facilities with Inhumane Conditions

Senators’ letter: “We do not support a system that detains people in inhumane conditions that result in long-term medical issues, psychological trauma, and sometimes death. We urge that these facilities be shut down, in a step towards building an immigration system that welcomes and respects migrants.”

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley said today they and seven colleagues urged federal agencies, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), to phase out the use of private detention centers, and close four facilities with well-documented inhumane conditions.

“The federal government should not pay private facilities with continuously problematic conditions,” the lawmakers wrote in a letter to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). “Upon termination of contracts, ICE should pursue community-based alternatives to detention, which provide immigrants with resources that help them integrate into their communities and stay with their families.”

“We do not support a system that detains people in inhumane conditions that result in long-term medical issues, psychological trauma, and sometimes death,” the senators wrote. “We urge that these facilities be shut down, in a step towards building an immigration system that welcomes and respects migrants.”

ICE detains between 36,000 and 40,000 individuals, 91 percent of whom are held in private detention facilities. More than half of the public opposes the use of private detention facilities to hold asylum seekers. 

In 2021, President Joe Biden ordered an end to the federal government’s use of private prisons, but did not extend the order to immigration detention facilities. Now, the senators are calling for an end to the use of private immigration detention centers entirely, with a focus on four facilities in Estancia, New Mexico; Winnfield, Louisiana; Adelanto, California; and Farmville, Virginia. These facilities have well-documented horrific conditions, such as “yellow drinking water,” forced sleep deprivation, prolonged solitary confinement, inadequate medical care, limited access to legal counsel, and violent retaliation against those who complain. Multiple Biden administration officials and members of Congress have called for the closure of these four facilities due to their poor conditions and high costs. 

DHS’s own oversight bodies – the DHS Office of the Inspector General, Office for Civil Rights Civil Liberties, and Office of the Immigration Detention Ombudsman – have recommended closing some of these facilities. The senators expressed that while stronger oversight is important for all ICE facilities, facilities that repeatedly violate applicable standards should be closed altogether. 

In addition to Wyden and Merkley, others signing the letter are U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawai’i), Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), and Peter Welch (D-Vt.)

Read the full letter here.