{"id":48600,"date":"2026-06-09T11:54:43","date_gmt":"2026-06-09T18:54:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=48600"},"modified":"2026-06-09T11:54:56","modified_gmt":"2026-06-09T18:54:56","slug":"there-must-be-accountability-says-jayapal-in-response-to-50-ice-detainee-deaths","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2026\/06\/09\/there-must-be-accountability-says-jayapal-in-response-to-50-ice-detainee-deaths\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018There Must Be Accountability,\u2019 Says Jayapal in Response to 50+ ICE Detainee Deaths"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Pramila<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) speaks at a rally in Lafayette Park near the White House in Washington, DC on May 1, 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0(Photo by Bryan Dozier\/Middle East Images\/Middle East Images\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is unprecedented and further proof that ICE and their private, for-profit prison contractors should not be sent another cent of taxpayer dollars.\u201d<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Brett Wilkins<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jun 08, 2026 (CommonDreams.org)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal<\/a> on Monday demanded accountability for the Trump administration<\/a> officials responsible for the \u201cunprecedented\u201d number of people who have died while detained by US Immigration<\/a> and Customs Enforcement during President Donald Trump\u2019s second term.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYesterday, I was notified of the 50th death in ICE custody since Trump returned to office,\u201d Jayapal (D-Wash.)\u2014the ranking member of the House Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement\u2014said<\/a> on social media<\/a>. \u201cThis is unprecedented and further proof that ICE and their private, for-profit prison contractors should not be sent another cent of taxpayer dollars. There must be accountability.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

RECOMMENDED…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Immigration<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As Detained Immigrants Strike Against \u2018Chaos and Cruelty,\u2019 Advocates Demand \u2018Not Another Dime for ICE\u2019<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"ICE<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u2018What I Witnessed and Experienced Today Was Shameful,\u2018 Says US Senator Pepper Sprayed by ICE<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

According to ICE\u2019s public database<\/a>, 51 people have died while detained by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agency during Trump\u2019s second term, including two people who were killed<\/a> in a sniper attack on an ICE administrative and processing center in Dallas. At least 10 of the deaths were men who killed themselves, according to<\/a> an Associated Press investigation published late last month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ICE recently announced<\/a> it would stop reporting the deaths of people recently released from ICE detention. The reporting policy, enacted in 2021, was meant to assure accountability and prevent the agency from offloading severely ill detainees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many of the deaths were preventable, say<\/a> experts who point to systemic understaffing and DHS policy choices that weaken detainee care and employee oversight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jayapal\u2019s call comes as ICE detainees across the nation are resisting abuse in concentration centers across the nation, through hunger strikes and other civil disobedience<\/a>, as well as via lawsuits<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hundreds of detainees at Delaney Hall in Newark, New Jersey\u2014which is operated by prison profiteer<\/a> GEO Group\u2014are participating in a hunger and labor strike<\/a> over unsanitary conditions, inedible food, poor medical care, and prolonged detention, while federal agents have attacked people outside the facility including protesters and a sitting US senator<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Similar strikes and other acts of resistance are either ongoing or recently occurred at Adelanto Processing Center<\/a> and its Desert View Annex in California, North Lake Processing Center<\/a> in Michigan, Moshannon Valley Processing Center<\/a> in Pennsylvania\u2014all run by GEO Group\u2014and other lockups. Detainees who participate in hunger strikes or speak to reporters say they have been placed in solitary confinement and subjected to other retaliation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite\u2014some critics say because of<\/a>\u2014reports of widespread abuses, DHS recently shut down<\/a> its Office of the Immigration Detention Ombudsman (OIDO), which was created by an act of Congress signed into law during Trump\u2019s first term amid rampant systemic abuse of migrants<\/a> including detainee deaths, family separation, and severe overcrowding. OIDO had the power to receive detainee complaints, investigate alleged abuse or misconduct, inspect detention facilities, and report systemic problems to DHS leaders and Congress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jayapal, who is an immigrant, has been one of Congress\u2019 most vocal critics<\/a> of Trump\u2019s xenophobic immigration crackdown. She was a leading voice<\/a> for the replacement of former DHS Secretary Kristi Noem and has visited several ICE detention centers\u2014and been blocked<\/a> from conducting official oversight duties at one of them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She also introduced the Dignity for Detained Immigrants Act<\/a>, a proposal \u201cto 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.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last week, Jayapal highlighted a report<\/a> published by the office of DHS Inspector General Joseph Cuffari that detailed violations of food safety and medical care standards, excessive use of force, and other improprieties at the Winn Correctional Center in Louisiana, which is run by prison profiteer LaSalle Corrections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis DHS OIG report details what we have heard from detained immigrants across the country\u2014that these detention centers have violated numerous required standards and are putting people\u2019s health and safety at serious risk,\u201d Jayapal said in a statement<\/a>. \u201cAnd this report verifies what many immigrants have stated is happening at these private, for-profit detention centers across the country.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDHS must immediately withdraw funding from the numerous detention centers that consistently do not meet the minimum required standards for housing immigrant detainees,\u201d the congresswoman added. \u201cFor 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.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brett Wilkins<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brett Wilkins is a staff writer for Common Dreams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Full Bio ><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) speaks at a rally in Lafayette Park near the White House in Washington, DC on May 1, 2025. \u00a0(Photo by Bryan Dozier\/Middle East Images\/Middle East Images\/AFP via Getty Images) \u201cThis is unprecedented and further proof that ICE and their private, for-profit prison contractors should not be… Continue reading → <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2004],"tags":[2005,1888,561],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48600"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48600"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48600\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":48601,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48600\/revisions\/48601"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48600"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48600"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48600"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}