Georgia Sen. Ossoff Investigates ICE: Probe Reveals Hundreds of Credible Reports Of Abuses In Immigration Detention

In one instance, a mother begged for medical help after her child, a U.S. citizen, began to vomit blood while in CBP custody. “Just give the girl a cracker,” a guard replied.

“One attorney reported that a U.S. citizen child with severe medical issues was hospitalized three times while in CBP custody with her non-citizen mother, and that when the girl began vomiting blood, the mother begged for medical attention,” the report said. But in response, a guard simply said to “just give the girl a cracker.”

An ongoing investigation led by Georgia’s senior senator has uncovered hundreds of credible reports of shocking human rights abuses in immigration detention facilities, including dozens of allegations of physical and sexual abuse and the mistreatment of pregnant women and children as young as two, including U.S. citizens.

The probe, led by Georgia Sen. Jon Ossoff, details more than 500 credible human rights abuses in immigration detention, including 41 reports of physical and sexual abuse, 32 reports of abuses against pregnant women and kids, reports of denial of health care and legal representation, and even punitive solitary confinement – which is considered torture by many experts – for reporting allegations at facilities in more than two dozen states, Puerto Rico, and even U.S. military bases in Cuba and as far away as Djibouti in the Horn of Africa.

“Public reports describe at least two 911 calls from the Adelanto ICE Processing Center in California referencing reported sexual assaults or threats of sexual assaults. At the South Texas ICE Processing Center, at least four emergency calls since January have reportedly referenced sexual abuse,” the report said. At the El Paso Service Processing Center in Texas, one detained individual was slammed so hard against the ground “for stepping out of line in the dining hall” that guards “reportedly nearly broke his wrists.”

Both the Adelanto ICE Processing Center and the South Texas ICE Processing Center are operated by GEO Group, one of a number of private prisons set to reap massive profits under the administration’s anti-immigrant dragnet. And they’ve made perfectly clear they know on which side their bread is buttered. GEO Group was the first corporation to max out to Donald Trump during the 2024 presidential campaign, and subsequently used a subsidiary to donate a combined $1 million to a pro-Trump super PAC.

The human misery that now fills the pockets of private prison executives aligned with the agenda of the administration has not spared the most vulnerable, either.

“The partner of a woman in DHS custody reported to the Senator’s staff that the woman was pregnant and bled for days before facility staff would take her to a hospital,” the report said. “Once she was there, she was reportedly left in a room, alone, to miscarry without water or medical assistance, for over 24 hours. In another case, a detainee reportedly ‘nearly miscarried twice’ while in ICE custody.” 

“One attorney reported that a U.S. citizen child with severe medical issues was hospitalized three times while in CBP custody with her non-citizen mother, and that when the girl began vomiting blood, the mother begged for medical attention,” the report continued. But in response, a guard simply said to “just give the girl a cracker.” In this disturbing pattern targeting sick children, a four-year-old child receiving ongoing treatment for cancer was also detained and subsequently deported “without the ability to consult a doctor.”

“Detainees have reported being beaten by detention facility staff and placed in solitary confinement after reporting their abuse,” the report said. The intent is clear. Human rights experts have stated that solitary confinement is tantamount to torture and can even be lethal.

And because Sen. Ossoff’s investigation of abuses in immigration detention is ongoing, further credible reports are likely to come. But as the report notes, Congressional oversight seeking to shine a light on these abuses has been impeded by the administration, which has sought to unlawfully block lawmakers from doing their jobs, as a recent lawsuit from members of Congress states. The administration claims that members must give at least 72 hours notice of any visits, but that’s entirely made up. Federal law permits them to visit unannounced as part of their oversight responsibilities.

“Regardless of our views on immigration policy, the American people do not support the abuse of detainees and prisoners,” Sen. Ossoff told NBC News, adding that “it’s more important than ever to shine a light on what’s happening behind bars and barbed wire, especially and most shockingly to children.”

Other recent reports show that abuses within immigration detention are part of an escalating pattern under Trump and mass deportation architect-in-chief Stephen Miller’s crusade to purge the country of non-white people. “Records of hundreds of emergency calls from ICE detention centers obtained by WIRED—including audio recordings—show a system inundated by life-threatening incidents, delayed treatment, and overcrowding,” the outlet reported in June.

“The data, obtained through public records requests, show that at least 60 percent of the centers analyzed had reported serious pregnancy complications, suicide attempts, or sexual assault allegations,” WIRED reported. “Since January, these 10 facilities have collectively placed nearly 400 emergency calls. Nearly 50 of those have involved potential cardiac episodes, 26 referenced seizures, and 17 reported head injuries. Seven calls described suicide attempts or self-harm, including overdoses and hangings. Six others involved allegations of sexual abuse—including at least one case logged as ‘staff on detainee.’”

And the following month, visiting lawmakers decried Florida’s Everglades detention camp and described the site as an "internment camp” where immigrants have been “packed” into what are essentially human holding pens. "Wall-to-wall humans. 32 detainees per cage," said Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL-25). Another visiting lawmaker, Rep. Maxwell Frost (FL-10), called conditions at the detention camp abhorrent. "When those doors opened .. what I saw made my heart sink.”

Following landmark legal action led by environmental and indigenous groups, a federal judge “banned the arrival of new detainees and ordered a winding down of operations within 60 days,” Friends of the Everglades said. However, an appeals court has since put that order on hold. Litigation around the detention camp remains ongoing as reporting has revealed that as Floridians continue to struggle with living costs, their state wasted more than $200 million on the project.

But as the end of one inhumane detention site could possibly be within reach, others are popping up in its place. The Marshall Project newly reports that as the administration is seeking to expand immigration detention, it’s rapidly “raising troubling facilities” with a history of abuses “from the dead” in order to get more space.

“In Louisiana, where many immigrants arrested across the country are being held, the state closed several prisons after sentencing and parole reform allowed it to shrink the incarcerated population,” the report said. “But those empty buildings were repurposed, and now, seven of the nine ICE facilities there are former local prisons or jails.” And it means more money for private prison profiteers. In rural Michigan, one reopened detention site is being operated by GEO Group. “I think the rapidity of that reopening does speak to the chaotic environment that we always associate with the GEO Group and how they cut corners, and above all, they want to make money,” No Detention Centers in Michigan member JR Martin told The Marshall Project.

There should be zero tolerance for abuses in any kind of detention, and in a functioning government, there would be accountability and a stop to the violence against some of the most vulnerable among us. But after Congressional Republicans threw an unprecedented $170 billion at Miller this past July to fund immigration enforcement, the message seems to be to keep going.