(NewsNation) — Immigration advocacy groups are urging the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to discontinue the use of solitary confinement in detention centers and initiate an investigation into a Colorado facility where the groups allege that solitary confinement has been misused.
The complaint lodged with DHS oversight bodies claims that detainees at the Denver Contract Detention Facility in Aurora, Colorado, operated by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), are increasingly being placed in solitary confinement as a means of “controlling and punishing” them.
Filing the complaint on behalf of individuals currently or previously housed at the facility are the American Immigration Council, the National Immigration Project (NIPNLG), and the Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy Network (RMIAN).
Rebekah Wolf, senior policy counsel at the American Immigration Council, stated in a release, “ICE is responsible for the safety of detained individuals, which it has repeatedly demonstrated it cannot provide. The egregious use of solitary confinement is detrimental to detained individuals’ mental and physical well-being. Despite a documented history of abuse and numerous deaths at the Aurora facility, this complaint illustrates the systemic failure by ICE to ensure a safe environment for the people they detain.”
The groups allege, among other instances, that in one case, an immigrant was placed in solitary confinement for three days for eating too slowly, and subsequently, he was sent to solitary confinement ten times before being transferred to another facility.
Felix, an identified detainee, stated, “If I spoke too loudly, solitary. If I climbed on top of a table to get a guard’s attention, solitary. If I had suicidal thoughts, solitary. When the guards would tease me about being deported back to my home country and make airplane sounds at me and gesture like a plane was taking me away, I would become upset and then get solitary for being upset.”
Furthermore, the complaint highlights the lack of accommodations provided to detainees with disabilities and raises safety concerns for survivors of assault or violence.
Advocacy groups hold GEO Group accountable for owning and operating the facility, which they claim has “compromised the health and safety” of detainees.
The complaint requests that the DHS oversight bodies recommend terminating the contract that allows for the operation of the facility and releasing all detainees. Additionally, the advocacy groups seek an end to medical segregation training on disability accommodations, as well as increased oversight and enforcement of disability laws.