ICE Detains to Death: Four in Four Days
Newsweek recently reported that four individuals died in ICE detention centers within a four-day span. A tragic tally, they suggest, but one could almost miss the 'detainee welfare is a top priority' boilerplate that always accompanies such reports. (It's almost as if 'welfare' and 'detention' are mutually exclusive concepts when discussing human beings stripped of rights.) This isn't a glitch,
folks; it's a feature. Since 2003, at least 250 people have died in ICE custody. These aren't just 'facilities'; they are for-profit enterprises. Companies like CoreCivic and GEO Group, major players in the private prison and detention center industry, have generated billions from federal contracts. CoreCivic, for instance, reported over $1.8 billion in revenue in 2023, largely from housing people
in conditions that, frankly, kill them. These corporations, along with their generous political donations, ensure that the detention system, with its documented medical neglect and abuse, remains robust. How many deaths does it take before 'top priority' sounds less like a promise and more like a threat?