Medical Neglect Alleged in Immigration Detention Centers Across the U.S.

An investigation by KFF Health News and The Associated Press has uncovered widespread allegations of medical neglect in U.S. immigration detention facilities, with hundreds of detainees across at least 33 states filing federal lawsuits claiming inadequate care.

Detainees report being denied medications for conditions such as high blood pressure, diabetes, depression, epilepsy, Parkinson's disease, and HIV, with requests for help going unanswered for weeks. Some detainees have collapsed or suffered seizures due to lack of treatment.

The system is under strain following a surge in detentions since President Donald Trump returned to office, with over 75,000 immigrants detained as of mid-January, up from around 40,000 a year earlier. The investigation analyzed thousands of habeas corpus cases filed since Trump's second inauguration, offering a rare window into how detainees say ICE handles their medical needs.

Reporters also interviewed more than 50 detainees, family members, and lawyers. The Department of Homeland Security reported 51 deaths in detention since the start of Trump's second term, with suicides reaching an unprecedented number.

DHS did not respond to requests for comment, but its acting chief medical officer, Sean Conley, previously stated that it is policy for detainees to receive timely and appropriate medical care. Individual facilities and private prison companies said they follow ICE standards.

However, detainees and their advocates describe a system marked by "brazen indifference" to obvious medical problems. For example, a detainee in Nevada with uncontrolled high blood pressure experienced dizziness, a nosebleed, and a headache before being hospitalized after cellmates banged on doors for help.

A father of six in Georgia said he was injured during transport and developed an E. coli infection after sleeping on a dirty concrete floor; he narrowly avoided amputation.

A detainee with one eye and severe glaucoma in the other said he sometimes went without his twice-daily eye drops, fearing he would go completely blind. Even court orders are not always followed; a California judge ordered the government to take a man with signs of prostate cancer to a specialist, but records show they did not.

The surge in habeas corpus petitions—over 40,000 filed during Trump's second term—has been fueled by decisions to deny bond to many detainees. However, judges are split on the legality of this, and the issue may reach the Supreme Court.

Many habeas claims have been successful, but judges often cite reasons unrelated to medical neglect, such as being held too long before deportation. The more than 300 medical neglect claims found in this investigation represent a fraction of the problem, as many cases remain hidden from public view.

Detainees' families feel helpless, making desperate calls to facilities and legislators while watching their loved ones deteriorate. For instance, Masuma Khan, a 64-year-old immigrant from Bangladesh, was detained for a month and only intermittently received her medications for high blood pressure, hypothyroidism, and prediabetes.

Her daughter said she got her asthma medication for the first time two days before release and never received her glaucoma eye drops. In another case, a Romanian citizen who underwent heart surgeries was denied 8 of his 16 daily medications while detained, leading to multiple hospitalizations and a stroke during a video call with his daughter.

He lost his ability to speak for four days. The Office of the Immigration Detention Ombudsman, which could facilitate medical care or investigate complaints, was shut down in early May due to lack of funding.

Families like that of Pedro Javier Amador Gutierrez, who has high blood pressure and depends on a Florida facility to administer his prescriptions, are left with impossible choices. His wife said he has collapsed twice and is considering returning to Cuba out of fear of dying in detention without his medicines.