Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal (7th District of Washington)
WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Representative Pramila Jayapal (WA-07), Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement, released the following statement regarding a report released by the Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General (DHS OIG) that detailed serious violations of standards for food safety, medical care, and use of force, among other breaches at the Winn Correctional Center.
“This DHS OIG report details what we have heard from detained immigrants across the country — that these detention centers have violated numerous required standards and are putting people’s health and safety at serious risk.
“Among other major issues, the report details serious safety and sanitation issues, including a massive hole in the ceiling and leaking vents that left pools of water in the kitchen, risking food safety; it showed that food was stored above safe temperatures, with both freezers and refrigerators running too hot; it showed that medical documents were not properly updated; and in a major breach of protocol, use of force instances were not being properly reported — with incidents including a banned choke hold being used on a detained person and the use of a pen to stab a detained person’s hand.
“An unprecedented forty-nine people have died in immigration detention since Trump returned to office. And this report verifies what many immigrants have stated is happening at these private, for-profit detention centers across the country. DHS must immediately withdraw funding from the numerous detention centers that consistently do not meet the minimum required standards for housing immigrant detainees. For those that remain, DHS must require facilities to take immediate corrective action and engage in serious oversight of these for-profit prison operators who are prioritizing their cash coffers over meeting basic health and safety standards.
“Congress must immediately step in and pass my Dignity for Detained Immigrants Act to end the use of private, for-profit detention centers, end the use of mandatory detention, update and implement robust minimum requirements for care, and conduct urgent oversight at other facilities across the country.”
Information from other facilities includes reports that detained people are being held in inhumane living conditions, with reports of overcrowding forcing 35 men to share one toilet and sleep head to toe on concrete floors, of people being served only a cup of rice a day or rotting food, and of people having their medications withheld or being denied necessary medical care. Further, the Trump Administration has restarted the practice of detaining families and children, which has long been criticized as unsafe and inflicting irreversible harm on children.
Jayapal leads the Dignity for Detained Immigrants Act to enact guardrails and oversight on immigration detention, and to ensure civil and human rights are protected. She also held an accountability hearing on Trump’s Detention Abuses in December of 2025.
Issues: Immigration