ICE is Routinely Violating the Human Rights of Non-White Migrants in Its Custody: DHS Watchdog finds Rotten Food, Nooses at Multiple Family Destruction Centers

From [ThinkProgress] The Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) released a report Thursday detailing the horrific conditions at immigration detention centers across the United States. Inspectors found “immediate risks or egregious violations of detention standards” including nooses in detainee cells, overuse of solitary confinement, and spoiled food, among other issues.

DHS OIG inspected four Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities, including the Adelanto ICE Processing Center in California, the Aurora ICE Processing Center in Colorado, the LaSalle ICE Processing Center in Louisiana, and the Essex County Correctional Facility in New Jersey.

According to the report, the “inspections of the four detention facilities revealed violations of ICE’s detention standards and raised concerns about the environment in which detainees are held.”

OIG described the food service issues at Adelanto and Essex as “egregious.” At Adelanto, “lunch meat and cheese were mixed and stored uncovered in

large walk-in refrigerators,” while chicken “smelled foul and appeared to be spoiled.” Food in the freezer was also expired. At Essex, “open packages of raw chicken leaked blood all over refrigeration units” and “lunch meat was slimy, foulsmelling and appeared to be spoiled.”

All of the facilities demonstrated “serious issues with the administrative and disciplinary segregation of detainees” that violate ICE detention standards and infringe on detainee rights, the report read.

The findings confirm what most immigration activist groups and some progressive members of Congress have been clamoring about for months: ICE is routinely violating the human rights of the individuals in its custody. [MORE]