Department of Homeland Security leaders visited several ICE detention facilities and the visits revealed shower stalls with mold, mildew, and peeling paint. Further an outdoor recreation area had a stuffed and overflowing toilet.
The unannounced inspections at four detention facilities housing ICE detainees displayed immediate risks or egregious violations of detention standards. The inspections were at the LaSalle ICE Processing Center in Louisiana, the Essex County Correctional Facility in New Jersey, the Aurora ICE Processing Center in Colorado, and the Adelanto, CA ICE detention center. Together these facilities can house a maximum of 4,981 detainees.
At ICE detention centers in Adelanto, CA, and Essex County, NJ there were nooses in detainee cells, overly restrictive segregation, inadequate medical care, unreported security incidents, and significant food safety issues. At the California location detainee bathrooms had mold and non-working toilets.
However, all four facilities had issues with expired food, which puts detainees at risk for food-borne illnesses. Chicken smelled foul and appeared to be spoiled; and food in the freezer was expired.
In Louisiana some bread was out of date by up to 1 week.
Two facilities failed to provide recreation outside detainee housing units. Bathrooms in two facilities’ detainee housing units were dilapidated and moldy. At one facility, detainees were not provided appropriate clothing and hygiene items to ensure they could properly care for themselves.
At three facilities, there were segregation practices that violated standards and infringed on detainee rights.
Lastly, one facility allowed only non-contact visits, despite being able to accommodate in-person visitation. Officials confirmed several concerns identified in detainee grievances, which indicated unsafe and unhealthy conditions to varying degrees at all of the four facilities visited.
