Immigrants are being more frequently held in isolation by the Trump administration, according to a new report.
In a concerning development, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency has seen a significant increase in the use of solitary confinement in its detention facilities across the country. According to a recent report, the number of individuals held in solitary confinement between April 2024 and May 2025 was the highest in the past decade.
The report, compiled by Physicians for Human Rights, notes that the use of solitary confinement in immigration detention has been rising at an alarming rate over the last decade. The increase during the first four months of the current Trump administration was more than six times the rate observed during the last several months of 2024.
ICE defines vulnerable detainees as those with serious medical or mental health conditions, disabilities, the elderly, pregnant or nursing women, those at risk of harm due to sexual orientation or gender identity, and victims of abuse. The report states that among vulnerable detainees, solitary confinement lasted twice as long, on average, during the first three months of 2025 compared with the first fiscal quarter of 2022.
The report also highlights individual cases of arbitrary and retaliatory use of solitary confinement, as found in New England by the same researchers.
Facilities with the most solitary confinement stints include Moshannon Valley Processing Center in Pennsylvania, Montgomery Processing Center in Texas, Buffalo Service Processing Center in New York, South Texas ICE Processing Center, and Eloy Detention Center in Arizona tied with Central Louisiana ICE Processing Center. The Adelanto ICE Processing Center in San Bernardino County and the Otay Mesa Detention Center in San Diego ranked in the top five with the highest number of solitary confinement placements from 2018 to 2023.
In California, detainees were placed in solitary confinement 2,546 times from September 2018 to September 2023. ICE reported that 596 people were placed in solitary confinement from April 2024 to May 2025.
The report calls on the federal government to end the practice of solitary confinement against immigrants who are detained for civil deportation proceedings, and for states and members of Congress to exercise oversight. Dr. Katherine Peeler, medical advisor for Physicians for Human Rights, stated that the number of people placed in solitary in ICE custody increased by 6.5% every month from February through May.
As of Sept. 7, nearly 59,000 immigrants were held in ICE custody, according to TRAC. The report by Physicians for Human Rights found that at least 10,588 people were placed in solitary confinement by ICE from April 2024 to May 2025.
The use of solitary confinement during the first four months of the current Trump administration increased each month, on average, at twice the rate found between 2018 and 2023. ICE changed the way it reports solitary confinement data last year, now reporting the number of individuals instead of placements. This year, vulnerable detainees spent an average of 38 consecutive days in isolation, compared with 14 days in late 2021.
A Tunisian man recounted his 13-day experience inside the downtown L.A. ICE facility after being arrested by agents while en route to the supermarket. His story serves as a stark reminder of the impact of solitary confinement on individuals in ICE custody.
The report's findings have sparked calls for reform and a reevaluation of the use of solitary confinement in immigration detention facilities.
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