U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, called for the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to expand its pending investigation of mental health care to include medical care and mismanagement of federal contracts in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facilities. He also called on ICE to halt intake of individuals at Baker County Detention Center during the investigation.
The call for an investigation follows a bombshell whistleblower report from a nurse practitioner at an ICE facility in Florida—the Baker County Detention Center—outlining gross mismanagement of a federal medical care contract and substantial and specific danger to public health in the facility.
“Far too many detained people in ICE detention facilities suffer through subpar medical and mental health care. The steady flow of disturbing reports and whistleblower accounts prove how ICE consistently fails to maintain safe conditions. The consequences—including documented fatalities—are grave and unacceptable,” said Durbin.
“With the incoming Trump-Vance Administration signaling their plans for a vengeful campaign targeting migrants and a drastic expansion of detention facilities, we must quickly ensure oversight and accountability in ICE detention facilities. Real, enforceable measures are necessary to ensure detainees do not face unnecessary harm and suffering. I’m urging the GAO to promptly investigate the matter,” concluded Durbin.
Today’s call for an investigation continues Durbin’s ongoing inquiry into medical and mental health care in ICE detention facilities, which he launched earlier this year with letters to ICE and GAO. A June report from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Physicians for Human Rights, and American Oversight found that 95 percent of documented deaths in ICE custody between 2017-2021 were likely preventable.
In April, Durbin introduced the Restricting Solitary Confinement in Immigration Detention Act, which would limit the use of solitary confinement by ICE. That same month, Durbin held a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on eliminating the abuse of solitary confinement. Durbin and a group of Senate Democrats also urged DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and ICE Acting Director Patrick Lechleitner to phase out the use of solitary confinement in immigration detention.
Last year, Durbin pressed for further investigation into deficient medical care in CBP detention facilities after whistleblower reports alleged systemic failures by DHS to ensure proper oversight of its medical care contractor.
