By Anne Peterson, Center for Gender and Refugee Studies
As the Trump administration prepares for a dramatic increase in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention, advocates are sounding the alarm that immigrants and people seeking asylum will suffer increasingly inhumane conditions in detention facilities. Immigration detention facilities—often run by private prison companies or by local counties under federal contracts—are notorious for rampant medical neglect, unsafe and inedible food, vermin infestations, and the denial of basic necessities, such as clothing and hygiene products. ICE’s failure to properly supervise these facilities, meet even minimum standards, or enforce compliance with recordkeeping fosters impunity and makes it more difficult to challenge these dire and sometimes deadly conditions.
Trump’s push for mass, indiscriminate deportations also raises concerns that ICE will secretly remove immigrants without due process.
Through a recent lawsuit challenging ICE’s failure to respond to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, the Center for Gender & Refugee Studies (CGRS) and the Casa Cornelia Law Center (Casa Cornelia) obtained information about ICE’s mistreatment of immigrants in its custody and the agency’s failure to maintain records of such mistreatment.
The Case of Ms. E.G.V.
Ms. E.G.V. sought asylum in the United States after she was tortured in her home country on account of her religious beliefs, a protected legal ground for asylum. An immigration judge found that she truthfully proved she was tortured due to her religious beliefs, but denied her claims on the basis that she had not proven the police in her home country were unable or unwilling to protect her, a requirement under the asylum law.
Ms. E.G.V. appealed the decision to the Board of Immigration Appeals and then the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. During those appeals, she was detained by ICE in abysmal conditions for nearly 11 months. Ms. E.G.V. spent five of those months at the Joe Corley Detention Center in Conroe, Texas, operated by the private prison company, the Geo Group.
The conditions at Corley were abysmal. Throughout that time, Ms. E.G.V. alleges she was denied adequate medical care. She was given only one tattered uniform to wear. While that uniform was cleaned, she had to use her bedsheet to cover her naked body. The socks and sandals the Corley staff gave her were unsanitary and had holes in them, which led to a painful fungal infection. Ms. E.G.V. was also forced to sleep on a mattress infested with bed bugs and was denied medical treatment for both conditions. Ms. E.G.V. also saw that the Corley kitchen was filthy, infested with vermin, and stocked with spoiled and expired food.
While at Corley, Ms. E.G.V. contracted Hepatitis A, suffered chronic digestive problems resulting in bloody stool and urine, developed high cholesterol and a thyroid condition, and became anemic. For months she endured constant headaches, eye pain, and numbness in her extremities. On at least two occasions she had difficulty breathing and lost consciousness. Despite repeated trips to the infirmary, Corley medical staff failed to diagnose Ms. E.G.V.’s conditions or provide any treatment.
In July 2020, a fire broke out at Corley. Ms. E.G.V. and 11 other women were trapped in their cells as smoke poured in. Although they screamed for help, the Corley guards refused to assist them until the women started passing out. After the fire, Ms. E.G.V. experienced severe pain in her throat, nose, and eyes and lost consciousness. Corley diagnosed Ms. E.G.V. with tachycardia but denied her treatment again, advising her to relax.
In addition to the deplorable conditions Ms. E.G.V. experienced at Corley, ICE twice attempted to wrongfully deport her despite a court order prohibiting her removal. On each occasion she was taken to an airfield and placed on an airplane with other detainees, before ICE officers realized their mistake.
Lack of Transparency
After ICE’s last attempt to remove her, CGRS and Casa Cornelia joined forces to represent Ms. E.G.V. in appealing the denial of her asylum claim. They also filed a FOIA request with ICE asking for all records relating to Ms. E.G.V.’s detention and attempted removals. When ICE failed to respond to repeated requests for those records, Ms. E.G.V. filed a lawsuit to compel production.
Within days after the complaint was filed, ICE immediately began to produce documents. Initially, there was a noticeable dearth of medical records from Ms. E.V.G.’s stay at Corley and no records referencing the July 2020 fire. Nor did ICE provide records of its attempts to wrongfully deport her.
However, a stipulated settlement agreement ultimately required ICE to document its attempts to locate the requested records in an attested declaration. This declaration suggests medical neglect, or at minimum woefully inadequate recordkeeping by Geo Group and Corley staff, as well as ICE’s failure to enforce proper recordkeeping policies. For example, the declaration states that ICE was unable to find any records of the July 2020 fire. Yet local ICE and Corley staff acknowledged the fire at the time. Several female detainees confirmed to reporters that they were, as Ms. E.G.V. has stated, locked in their cells during the fire and that Corley staff ignored their medical concerns.
Additionally, ICE admits that it routinely attempts to deport immigrants who are not removable and does not always record those incidents, stating:
With the incoming administration poised to enact its mass detention and deportation agenda, with the backing of an increasingly emboldened ICE, these admissions are particularly disturbing. Ms. E.G.V.’s case demonstrates why it is critical to continue to monitor and challenge ICE’s treatment of immigrants in its custody and hold the agency accountable for complying with required recordkeeping procedures.
FILED UNDER: Immigration and Customs Enforcement
