Trump's Trials - The system meant to protect ICE detainees has collapsed

Episode Date: August 21, 2026

One of the last remaining checks on Immigration and Customs Enforcement and private-prison contractors running immigration detention centers has all but collapsed, according to an NPR review. NPR's Vanessa Romo reports.Support public media with NPR+ and enjoy perks for over 25 podcasts like this one. This show’s perks include sponsor-free listening. Learn more at plus.npr.org.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

You're listening to Trump's terms. I'm Scott Detrow. Every episode, we bring you one story from NPR's recent coverage of the 47th president. With a focus on ways his administration is pushing the boundaries of presidential power. Here's the latest from NPR. From NPR news, I'm Elsa Chang. One of the last remaining checks on immigration and customs enforcement and private prison contractors running detention centers has all but collapsed. And that is leaving thousands of people trapped in a system with near-nonexistent oversight. NPR immigration correspondent Vanessa Romo reports.

The grievance system is a long-standing tool in the U.S. for people being held in detention. In immigration detention, it's designed to offer a safe channel to report violations like unsanitary conditions and medical neglect. But an NPR review has found the system is no longer working as intended. Here's how it's supposed to work. A detainee has a problem. They fill out a form, an officer is required to provide a written decision, and, if appropriate, come up with a resolution. The more serious, the quicker they're supposed to act. But that's not how it worked out for Dee, who upon arrival to Delaney Hall Detention Center in a Jersey, told officials...

I tell them, listen, I got a brand tumor. It's very aggressive, and I need my medicine like twice a day. D is a 44-year-old Mexican National who was picked up by ICE the same week he was scheduled. to start chemotherapy for a stage four brain tumor. Dee requested that NPR use only his first initial because he fears government retaliation. For weeks, D. says he'd tell any GEO group staffer who'd listen about his condition. Geo Group is the private prison contractor

that runs Delaney. But before receiving any chemo or radiation or an MRI, D was transferred, twice. He ended up at California City Detention Center, which is run by Core Civic. That's where the seizures began. When I start having a seizure, I couldn't do anything. He had four over two and a half months.

He says they were all triggered by hours-long delays of his anti-seizure medication, which he tracked in a daily log. After each episode, Dee filed a formal grievance, just like his lawyer told him to do. The abogada, Abogada Acientea, that's what she told me. She started running everything down. I started doing that. NPR reviewed the forms filed by D.

They do not show any response from course civic officials. even though emergency medical grievances are supposed to be reviewed within 24 hours. NPR reached out to DHS, GEO group, and Corsivic. They did not provide answers to specific questions about the grievance process. Corsivic spokesman Ryan Gustin told NPR that the company has, quote, a robust grievance process available to all detainees. But experts like immigration attorney Chris Brundage say that system was flawed from the start. There's also a patchwork of detention standards that were adapted to the different

types of facilities. Brandage calls himself a dinosaur of DHS because he worked for the department for 23 years. In his final post, he was the deputy of the now-closed Office of the Immigration Detention Ombudsman. He says trying to enforce the rules of the grievance system has always been challenging. Then there's the evisceration of nearly all immigration detention oversight offices. You had the Inspector Generals. You had the Office of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties. And I think when these offices were effectively gutted and shut down, one, you don't have the administration itself making oversight a priority, but two, you've lost the actual physical offices to do it. Each of those offices played a key role in safeguarding detainees. And now that they've all been shuttered or sidelined, we're seeing immigration detention deaths at record highs. And more detainees are launching hunger strikes to protest in humane conditions. Where is your independent verification and oversight? You know, can you?

And you have ICE do its own inspections, sure. But that's kind of like the rooster watching the henhouse. There's also another issue. It's virtually impossible for lawmakers or inspectors to know how many grievances are filed because neither ICE nor the private prison companies are required to disclose that data. And some suggest that's a deliberate ploy to keep the public in the dark. That was the conclusion of a 2024 study by the ACLU of Northern California and the California Collaborative for Immigrant Justice.

They reviewed nearly 500 grievances filed in California between 2023 and 2024. Of those, only 8% were found in favor of detained people. And even grievances that are upheld may not amount to much, according to Mariel Villarreal, a senior attorney with CCIJ. Even grievances that are ultimately founded, there's often no real remedy to them. There's nothing with teeth. Democratic Texas Congressman Joaquin Castro agrees, he too. is vexed by the system and frustrated by the failings, he says he confronts on regular visits to detention centers. I think for all intents and purposes, the grievance process, the resolution

process is non-functioning at this point. And these people are at the whim, whatever ICE wants to do to them. As for Dee, he's been released from ICE detention. He's now living at home, undergoing cancer treatment. He hasn't had another seizure. Vanessa Romo, NPR News. A note before we go. If you value this show and want to help keep it going, a free and totally easy way to support us is to rate and review Trump's terms on the platform where you listen in a world of algorithms that goes a long way toward helping us reach new listeners. If you have left a review in the past, thank you so much. I'm Scott Detrow. Thanks for listening to Trump's terms from NPR.