{"id":1589,"date":"2025-10-09T19:58:09","date_gmt":"2025-10-09T19:58:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lavoz.us.com\/homepage\/?p=1589"},"modified":"2025-10-09T19:58:09","modified_gmt":"2025-10-09T19:58:09","slug":"fifteen-migrants-dead-and-over-1200-missing-in-u-s-detention-centers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lavoz.us.com\/homepage\/american-community-media\/fifteen-migrants-dead-and-over-1200-missing-in-u-s-detention-centers\/","title":{"rendered":"Fifteen Migrants Dead and Over 1,200 Missing in U.S. Detention Centers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Lawyers and human rights advocates warn of inhumane conditions, torture, and growing opacity inside immigration detention centers. They denounce that Donald Trump\u2019s administration continues to enforce policies that violate the Constitution and international treaties.<\/strong>


In just eight months of 2025, fifteen migrants have died in immigration detention centers \u2014 ten of them between January and June \u2014 marking the deadliest period in recent history. Adding to the tragedy, 1,200 detainees have gone missing from the Everglades Detention Center, also known as \u201cAlligator Alcatraz,\u201d with families and lawyers unaware of their whereabouts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite mounting pressure and growing outrage over Trump\u2019s immigration policies, the current administration maintains the same stance on deportations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a briefing help by American Community Media<\/a> (ACoM), experts discussed the daily challenges faced by immigrants, the lack of oversight and basic safety in detention centers, and the community-based solutions that could address these systemic problems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Trauma Is the Point\u201d: Inhumane Conditions Inside Detention Centers<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Attorney Heather Hogan, from the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), opened the panel by denouncing the inhumane conditions inside ICE detention facilities. She described the treatment of asylum seekers as identical to that of prisoners, despite the fact that, according to official data, most have not committed any crime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOfficers refer to detainees as \u2018bodies.\u2019 The system strips them of their humanity,\u201d Hogan said, noting that both private security guards and ICE officers refer to detainees as if they were corpses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hogan recounted harrowing scenes: people being awakened at 3:30 a.m. for crucial interviews, guards mocking detainees, or placing them in solitary confinement \u2014 a practice the United Nations has classified as torture. She also warned that isolation disproportionately affects transgender people and those living with HIV, who are allegedly separated \u201cfor their own protection.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDetention exacerbates the trauma of those who already fled violence. Many develop mental disorders or contemplate suicide,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Hogan, the federal government uses detention centers as a means to pressure immigrants into abandoning their cases and giving up their stay in the United States. She described this as a form of systemic violence, asserting that cruelty has become a deliberate policy: \u201cThe trauma is the point. Separating people from their families is the goal.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hogan emphasized that media visibility is key to confronting this systemic abuse: \u201cSharing personal stories \u2014 not just statistics \u2014 is what mobilizes communities. We must show what happens inside detention centers, even when it hurts.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Record Number of Deaths Under ICE Custody<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Attorney Andrew Free, who has worked with families and individuals detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) since 2017, spoke bluntly about the surge in deaths and the worsening conditions in U.S. immigration detention centers. \u201cWhen I started, I got a call from the family of James Lynch, who died by suicide in detention. It was one of the most painful cases of the past eight years,\u201d he recalled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Free, fiscal year 2025 has seen 22 deaths in ICE custody \u2014 the highest figure since 2004. \u201cThe largest number occurred in Florida, particularly at the Chrome Detention Center, where there was overcrowding, staff shortages, and women sleeping on buses,\u201d he explained. Texas ranks second, while Louisiana, despite housing many detainees, \u201chasn\u2019t had a single death in custody, which is interesting.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Free maintains a public database tracking deaths in detention, which contrasts with ICE\u2019s official data. \u201cAt least five people who died in fiscal year 2025 are not included in ICE\u2019s public statements,\u201d he said. In his view, this points to severe underreporting and structural deficiencies in the official records. \u201cI don\u2019t think anyone truly knows how many people have died under ICE custody,\u201d he stated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat gives us hope,\u201d Free concluded, \u201cis educating the public through a free press. That\u2019s the only way to provide context and reveal what\u2019s really happening.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Medical Negligence and Secret Deportations<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The final speaker, attorney Yannick Gill from Refugee Advocacy and Human Rights First, condemned the growing opacity and inhumane conditions in U.S. immigration detention centers. \u201cWe are talking about medical negligence, psychological abuse, and prolonged detentions. This violates both domestic law and international treaties,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gill recounted that, following the death of a detainee at the Moshannon Valley Center, her organization requested an inspection visit alongside members of Congress \u2014 but ICE denied them entry. \u201cDenying Congress access is a constitutional violation,\u201d she denounced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She also warned about secret agreements to deport migrants to third countries, including El Salvador, Panama, and Rwanda. \u201cPeople are being sent to foreign prisons without oversight. It\u2019s a pattern of outsourcing and abuse,\u201d she stated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally, Gill cautioned that the official rhetoric is sliding into political persecution: \u201cTrump uses the word \u2018terrorist\u2019 to label activists, human rights defenders, and LGBTQ+ communities. What\u2019s coming next isn\u2019t just immigration raids \u2014 it\u2019s political raids.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lawyers and human rights advocates warn of inhumane conditions, torture, and growing opacity inside immigration detention centers. They denounce that Donald Trump\u2019s administration continues to enforce policies that violate the Constitution and international treaties. In just eight months of 2025, fifteen migrants have died in immigration detention centers \u2014 ten of them between January and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1590,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[686],"tags":[1257,1277,1040,696,1263,130,1847],"class_list":["post-1589","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-american-community-media","tag-acom","tag-american-community-media","tag-donald-trump","tag-ice","tag-ice-arrest","tag-immigration","tag-inmmigration"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lavoz.us.com\/homepage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1589","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lavoz.us.com\/homepage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lavoz.us.com\/homepage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lavoz.us.com\/homepage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lavoz.us.com\/homepage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1589"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lavoz.us.com\/homepage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1589\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1591,"href":"https:\/\/lavoz.us.com\/homepage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1589\/revisions\/1591"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lavoz.us.com\/homepage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1590"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lavoz.us.com\/homepage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1589"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lavoz.us.com\/homepage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1589"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lavoz.us.com\/homepage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1589"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}