Warren, Markey, Durbin, Colleagues Urge Biden Administration to Phase Out ICE Solitary Confinement
“ICE has failed to follow its own guidelines that limit both the punitive use of solitary confinement and the imposition of additional forms of punishment in solitary confinement.”
Washington D.C. – Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), and U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), sent a letter to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Acting Director Patrick Lechleitner, calling for ICE to limit and phase out solitary confinement while finding meaningful alternatives so that detainees receive the same rights as others in ICE detention, including access to counsel, telephone, visitation, food and hygiene. The senators also called for DHS to end its misuse of solitary confinement in immigration detention, especially for people with medical and mental health conditions, LGBTQ+ individuals, and other vulnerable populations.
“Under no circumstances should ICE use solitary confinement as a form of discipline in civil immigration detention,” wrote the lawmakers. “ICE should also prioritize vulnerable individuals for release into post-release care plans whenever appropriate, rather than placing them in solitary confinement in the first place. New practices must also ensure that those in solitary confinement receive the same rights as others in ICE detention, including the same access to counsel, telephones, visitation, food, and hygiene.”
ICE has placed individuals in solitary confinement for months, and even years, as punishment for minor infractions, such as using profanity, and even as retaliation for submitting a complaint or participating in a hunger strike. From 2018 to 2023, ICE placed people in solitary confinement more than 14,000 times, leaving them in an enclosed cell without human contact for more than 22 hours per day. Once in solitary confinement, people endure additional punishment, including denial of access to legal visits, reduced portion sizes at meals, and being forced to sleep on cement or steel platforms. Since solitary confinement has shown to carry serious health risks such as brain damage, hallucinations, PTSD, self-harm, and even suicide, the senators are concerned that ICE’s solitary confinement may constitute cruel and unusual punishment, which would violate the U.S. Constitution.
Furthermore, ICE’s guidelines to limit the punitive use of solitary confinement include careful consideration of alternative consequences before placing an individual in solitary confinement, but Physicians for Human Rights found that ICE regularly places people in solitary confinement without required hearings. Allegedly, some detainees are discouraged from pursuing the hearing to which they are entitled, raising concerns about due process for individuals in solitary confinement.
Additional cosigners include Senators Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Laphonza Butler (D-Calif.), Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Bernard Sanders (D-Vt.), and Peter Welch (D-Vt.).
Senator Warren has been a leader in fighting for the health of those in custody:
- In November 2023, on the 10th anniversary of the passing of Nelson Mandela, who was held in solitary confinement for nearly six years, U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), and Peter Welch (D-Vt.), co-sponsored Senator Edward J. Markey’s (D-Mass.) new End Solitary Confinement Act, necessary legislation that would end solitary confinement in federal prisons, jails, and detention centers, with limited exceptions, and incentivize states and cities to end solitary confinement in their facilities.
- In October 2023, Senator Warren and other lawmakers sent a letter to Corizon Health, Inc.-affiliated companies Tehum Care Services, Inc. and YesCare Corporation (together, “Corizon”), expressing concern about poor-quality health services provided to incarcerated people in jails and prisons around the country.
- In March 2021, Senator Warren and lawmakers sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General (OIG) urging them to conduct a comprehensive review of all COVID-19-related deaths of incarcerated individuals in the custody of the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) and BOP staff since the beginning of the pandemic.
- In November 2020, Senator Warren and lawmakers sent a letter to the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) seeking information about the status of medical copays in correctional facilities during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- In January 2020, Senator Warren led a letter to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) questioning their anti-corruption policies and practices after a series of high-profile officials responsible for oversight of the private prison and detention industry left to join the biggest companies in the industry.
- In September 2019, Senator Warren and lawmakers sent a letter to DHS and HHS expressing serious concerns over DHS's announcement that migrant families detained at U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) holding centers would not be vaccinated for the flu ahead of this year's flu season.
- In July 2019, Senator Warren sent a letter to Jennifer Costello, Acting Inspector General (IG) of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), requesting that the IG conduct an investigation into the use of solitary confinement and other punishments to coerce participation in "voluntary" work programs at federal and federally-contracted immigration detention facilities, and the role of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) policies, procedures, and guidance in such practices.
- In April 2018, Senator Warren and other lawmakers sent a letter to Deputy Director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Thomas Homan, requesting information on a recent policy change allowing for the increased detention of pregnant women in ICE detention facilities.
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