Hunger Strikes, Bruises and Lawsuits: Widespread Abuse Allegations in Federal Immigration Detention Centers

Allegations of neglect, abuse and dangerous living conditions inside multiple federal immigration detention facilities have intensified as the Trump administration advances an expansive deportation effort. Detainees, attorneys and advocacy groups describe hunger strikes, delayed medical care, unsanitary conditions and physical assaults by guards at several privately run and federal camps.

Hunger Strikes and Complaints About Basic Care

People detained at the North Lake Processing Center in Baldwin, Michigan, announced a hunger strike to protest overcrowding, poor medical care, inadequate food and lengthy procedural delays that they say deny them basic rights. A translated statement distributed by No Detention Centers in Michigan said detainees believe many meet release requirements but are repeatedly denied bond.

In Pennsylvania, roughly 100 men held at the Moshannon Valley Processing Center in Clearfield County said they began a hunger strike after staff allegedly ignored a detainee who vomited and lost consciousness. A source inside the facility reported finding worms in water, insects in food and other unsanitary conditions.

Allegations of Physical Abuse at ‘Alligator Alcatraz’

Attorneys for detainees at the tent camp nicknamed “Alligator Alcatraz” in Florida filed declarations and court motions alleging guards cut off phone access and then used beatings and pepper spray against detainees who protested. Photos submitted in court show a detainee with a large dark bruise around his eye. Attorneys say one detainee was punched, thrown to the ground, beaten by multiple guards, kicked and restrained with a knee to the neck; another detainee’s wrist was allegedly broken during the same incident.

'We demand competent doctors, better medical care—the food here is absolute garbage—and, above all, an end to the procedural delays we are suffering through inside these walls,' a North Lake detainee said in a translated statement.

Lawsuits, Reports and Congressional Scrutiny

Two 2024 reports — from the Pennsylvania chapter of the ACLU and Temple University Beasley School of Law — documented widespread complaints of medical neglect, malnutrition and abuse in Pennsylvania facilities. Separate lawsuits challenge conditions at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center in California, alleging mold, unsanitary food, undrinkable water and inadequate medical care. Declarations from roughly two dozen detainees describe long waits for critical medical appointments, including one man who says he has waited six months for a colonoscopy after an outside urologist raised concerns about possible cancer.

Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz carried out an unannounced inspection of the Florida camp and described it as hot, short on portable toilets and reeking of urine; she estimated about 1,500 men were held there. Senators Jon Ossoff and Dick Durbin pressed DHS for information after reports that detainees were confined in a small, extremely hot cage-like structure called 'the box' as punishment.

Deaths, Oversight And The Bigger Picture

Advocacy groups report a sharp rise in deaths in ICE custody: Detention Watch Network says there have been 28 deaths this fiscal year, a two-decade high. Advocates also note that last year the Trump administration significantly reduced the staffing and authority of the three Department of Homeland Security offices charged with monitoring detention conditions, raising concerns about independent oversight.

ICE did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Legal actions and congressional inquiries are ongoing as detainees, lawyers and advocacy groups continue to document conditions across multiple facilities.