CRUEL AND UNUSUAL

ICE Has Held Thousands of Migrants in Solitary Confinement, Report Says

The punishment has been used to segregate hunger strikers, LGBTQ detainees, and people with disabilities, according to The Intercept.

Thousands of immigrant detainees have been forced to suffer solitary confinement for minor offenses, The Intercept reports. The report states that Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials are dishing out solitary time as a standard punishment rather than a last resort, forcing vulnerable people to spend 23 hours a day by themselves for months at a time. Dulce Rivera, a 36-year-old transgender woman from Honduras who attempted suicide after spending months alone, said: “You never know what day it is, what time it is... Sometimes you never see the sun.” The punishment has also been used to segregate hunger strikers, LGBTQ detainees, and people with disabilities, the report says. Records reviewed by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists state that some detainees have mutilated their genitals, gouged their eyes, cut their wrists, and smeared cells with feces.