The Spark

the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist

“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx

ICE Detention Prisons

Jan 6, 2020

Recent news has revealed high levels of abuse in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention centers.

The investigation reported at least 29 deaths, including several suicides, more than 400 allegations of sexual assault, inadequate medical care, frequent use of solitary confinement, and more than 800 instances of physical force against detainees. Guards are using pepper spray and tear gas and brutal beatings against detainees for peacefully protesting the conditions. Detainees are not getting life-saving medicines like insulin for diabetes. Some have been in detention for years.

The U.S. immigration detention system has grown steadily over the past 40 years. It is now a three billion-dollar network of 222 facilities that detain more than 50,000 people who wait months or years for immigration court proceedings. ICE has also signed contracts with private companies to operate at least 60 facilities where 75% of all detainees are held.

These so-called detention centers are nothing less than permanent prisons, for people who have not been convicted of anything.

These conditions, which Trump boasts will persuade immigrants to remain in their own country, will not stop people from fleeing even worse conditions created by U.S. imperialism in Central America.