- “ICE’s own records show that the agency has subjected people to torturous conditions — which cause devastating physical and psychological health harms.” – Katherine Peeler, MD, report co-author and medical advisor at PHR
A new report from Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) finds that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement continues to underreport detention abuses and population numbers, leaving more than 10,500 people subjected to what experts describe as torturous conditions over the past 14 months.
Katherine Peeler, MD, a report co-author and medical advisor at PHR, writes that “ICE’s own records show that the agency has subjected people to […] torturous conditions — which cause devastating physical and psychological health harms.”
The report outlines not only the number of people being placed in solitary confinement, but also the extreme conditions they endure. PHR states that, during the first four months of the Trump administration, the number of individuals detained by ICE was twice as high as the rate between 2018 and 2023, and “more than six times higher than during the end of the Biden administration.”
From February to May 2025, “the number of individuals placed in solitary confinement by ICE increased by an average of 6.5 percent per month,” according to the report. The number of vulnerable people confined, including those with mental health conditions, has increased approximately 56 percent per quarter this year.
The findings, obtained in part through the Freedom of Information Act, reveal that ICE’s self-reported data underestimates how many individuals are held in solitary confinement. Public ICE data and records show systematic reporting failures that allow the agency to manipulate statistics, PHR said.
Arevik Avedian, PhD, a report co-author, lecturer on law and director of Empirical Research Services at Harvard Law School, confirmed that the report is “likely just the tip of the iceberg as it relies in part on ICE’s self-reported data, which is known to be incomplete and unreliable.” Avedian further warned that “the full scale and scope of the solitary confinement crisis will continue to be obscured by ICE until Congress acts.”
Congress, however, has passed legislation that quadruples ICE’s budget and expands resources for immigration detention facilities — the same facilities where people are subjected to solitary confinement and where abuses go underreported. The report notes that “the Trump administration has also frequently undermined oversight and accountability mechanisms that are intended to prevent abuses at the Department of Homeland Security, from limiting oversight bodies to restricting congressional oversight visits.”
PHR calls on the federal government to end unfair practices against immigrants in ICE detention, including solitary confinement and other unreported abuses. The group says members of Congress must use reports and oversight mechanisms to stop future exploitation of immigrants.
Follow the Vanguard on Social Media – X, Instagram and Facebook. Subscribe the Vanguard News letters. To make a tax-deductible donation, please visit davisvanguard.org/donate or give directly through ActBlue. Your support will ensure that the vital work of the Vanguard continues.
