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Detention conditions and torture

Documentation of torture, solitary confinement, medical neglect, and inhumane conditions across the US detention system, from Alligator Alcatraz to Guantanamo.

6 records · Last updated March 25, 2026

These records present evidence of systematic abuse within immigration detention that meets international definitions of torture and cruel, inhuman treatment.

Included records

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Updated March 25, 2026 Deportation to Torture
War Crime / Crime Against Humanity Ongoing Reported record

Torture and Enforced Disappearances at 'Alligator Alcatraz' and Krome Detention Centers

Florida immigration detention centers are sites of documented torture including a punitive cage device, prolonged solitary confinement, unsanitary conditions, and enforced disappearances facilitated by the absence of any tracking system. At least six people died in Florida ICE facilities since October 2024.

  • Amnesty International conducted a research trip to southern Florida in September 2025 and published findings in December 2025 documenting systematic human rights violations at two immigration detention facilities
  • 'Alligator Alcatraz' (Everglades Detention Facility) operates OUTSIDE federal oversight, without the basic tracking systems used in ICE facilities — the absence of registration or tracking mechanisms facilitates incommunicado detention constituting enforced disappearance
  • Detainees are placed in 'the box' — a 2x2 foot cage-like structure where they are restrained with hands and feet attached to the ground, sometimes for hours, exposed to the elements with minimal water — which Amnesty concluded amounts to torture
Sources
3
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2
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torturedetentionAlligator AlcatrazKrome
Updated March 25, 2026 Deportation to Torture
War Crime / Crime Against Humanity Ongoing Active litigation

Guantanamo Bay Immigrant Detention: Solitary Confinement and Torture Conditions

Immigrants transferred to Guantanamo Bay face conditions amounting to torture: 23+ hour solitary confinement, punishment chairs, physical abuse, and incommunicado detention. ACLU and CCR lawsuits challenge the offshore detention as unconstitutional and beyond the authority of the Immigration and Nationality Act.

  • Approximately 500 immigrants transferred to Guantanamo Bay Migrant Operations Center since January 2025, with executive order calling for expansion to 30,000-person capacity.
  • Detainees held in solitary, windowless cells for 23+ hours per day, constantly shackled, subjected to invasive strip searches and a 'punishment chair' for hours as punishment.
  • Reports of physical abuse including guards fracturing a detainee's hand by slamming a radio onto it, withholding water as retaliation, and threats to shoot detainees.
Sources
7
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2
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Guantanamo Baysolitary confinementtortureACLU
Updated March 25, 2026 Deportation & Immigration
Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern Ongoing Reported record

Deportation and Medical Neglect of Pregnant Women in ICE Custody

ICE deported 363 pregnant, postpartum, and nursing women in 13 months and recorded 16 miscarriages in detention. Women were shackled while miscarrying, denied prenatal care, and subjected to invasive procedures without consent -- all in violation of ICE's own 2021 directive against detaining pregnant individuals.

  • 363 pregnant, postpartum, and nursing immigrants were deported between January 1, 2025 and February 16, 2026.
  • 16 miscarriages were recorded in ICE custody by late September 2025.
  • As of February 16, 2026, 86 pregnant detainees were in ICE custody, including 9 in their final trimester.
Sources
7
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pregnant womenmedical neglectshacklingmiscarriage
Updated March 25, 2026 Deportation to Torture
Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern Ongoing Reported record

Record ICE Detention Deaths and Medical Care Payment Halt

46 deaths in ICE custody since January 2025 mark a two-decade high. ICE's October 2025 halt of medical care payments left detainees without access to health services as the detention population reached record levels, creating conditions that contributed to preventable deaths.

  • 46 people have died in ICE custody or detention facilities since January 2025 — a two-decade high, with 2025 seeing the highest death rate (5.6 per 10,000 detainees) since the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic.
  • ICE halted payments to medical care contractors in October 2025 after the VA terminated a longstanding reimbursement agreement, leaving detention facilities without funded medical services.
  • Some medical providers began denying services to ICE detainees as a direct result of the payment halt, even as the detained population continued to break records.
Sources
8
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ICE detentiondetention deathsmedical careimmigration enforcement
Updated February 20, 2026 Deportation to Torture
Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern Ongoing Reported record

Secret Cameroon Deportation Agreement and Torture of Deportees

The US secretly deported 17 people from 9 African countries to Cameroon under a covert agreement. Deportees were immediately beaten by gendarmes, arbitrarily detained, and subjected to torture. Journalists attempting to document conditions were detained. HRW documented systematic abuses including enforced disappearances and rape.

  • Under a secret agreement, the US deported 17 people from 9 African countries (Angola, DRC, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Morocco, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Zimbabwe) to Cameroon in January-February 2026.
  • Deportees included asylum seekers with court-ordered protections against deportation and at least one stateless person.
  • Cameroonian gendarmes beat deportees with batons upon arrival at Douala airport; at least 12 confirmed cases of arbitrary arrest and beating since late 2025.
Sources
6
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0
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Cameroonthird-country deportationsecret agreementtorture
Updated November 10, 2025 Deportation & Immigration
Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern Ongoing Reported record

Surge in Solitary Confinement in Immigration Detention

10,500+ people subjected to solitary confinement in immigration detention over 14 months, with usage surging under the Trump administration. Nearly 75% of placements exceeded the UN's 15-day torture threshold. DHS oversight offices were simultaneously decimated from 150 to 22 staff.

  • Over 10,500 people were placed in solitary confinement in immigration detention centers between April 2024 and May 2025.
  • The monthly rate of solitary confinement use under the second Trump administration was twice the rate from 2018-2023 and more than six times higher than during the end of the Biden administration.
  • Nearly three out of four solitary confinement placements lasted 15 days or longer -- the threshold the UN Special Rapporteur considers torture.
Sources
7
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solitary confinementtortureimmigration detentionmental health