ICE Detention Facilities: Failing to Meet Basic Standards of Care

UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES Committee on Homeland Security MAJORITY STAFF REPORT September 21, 2020

"OVERSIGHT FAILURES: DHS Oversight of ICE Detention Facilities Fails to Effectively Identify and Correct Deficient Conditions

1. Oversight programs are too broad, too infrequent, and preannounced;

2. ICE’s contractor is ill-equipped to conduct inspections in a manner that successfully identify deficiencies;

3. DHS has few mechanisms to enforce corrections and rarely uses those mechanisms; and

4. ICE contracts with detention facilities that are poorly equipped to meet the agency’s own detention standards.

DEFICIENCIES AT ICE FACILITIES: ICE Facilities Are Generally Clean, But Frequently Fail to Meet Basic Standards of Care

1. With some egregious exceptions, the facilities visited by the Committee were generally clean; 2. ICE detainees frequently face deficient medical, dental, and mental health care; 3. Detention facilities often misuse and abuse segregation; and 4. Detainees face challenges accessing legal services, case information, and interpreter/translation services."