‘They’re Not Breathing’: Inside the Chaos of ICE Detention Center 911 Calls

[Content warning: article and embedded videos include strong descriptions of violence, sexual assault, self-injury]

Thoroughly researched and disturbing, this Wired article reviews hundreds of 911 calls placed from immigration detention centers run by GEO Group and CoreCivic, our nation’s two largest private prison companies and providers of immigration detention. As the article makes clear, “immigration detention” is just prison by another name, but for people whose only “crime” was coming to the U.S. in search of stability and safety.

The two private prison companies talk a good game about fulfilling their legal obligations to provide adequate shelter and medical care, but the 911 calls reviewed by Wired tell a different story. Medical emergencies of various kinds, some allegedly caused by facility staff, are either actively downplayed or even dismissed, in some cases while the emergency is heard to play out in the background. Perhaps most disturbing is the high likelihood that 911 calls represent a small percentage of the actual emergencies and abuse that happen at these facilities.

These disturbing phone calls are supplemented by multiply-corroborated reports from detainees, their families, their legal representatives, and advocates who describe overcrowded facilities, lack of basic medical care, terrible (sometimes inedible) food, and more. Most of these reports come from several months ago, before the latest round of pressure from the DHS to push the number of detainees even higher.

Remember: the cruelty is the point.

(Taken from an email sent to me by Never Again Action. Emphasis original.)