“The Cruelty Is The Point,” Durbin Says In Opening Statement At His Spotlight Forum On Abusive Conditions In ICE Facilities

"The Cruelty Is The Point," Durbin Says In Opening Statement At His Spotlight Forum On Abusive Conditions In ICE Facilities

Durbin: "This Administration has one goal-make conditions in detention so terrible, so notorious that immigrants will choose to leave, no matter what their legal status might be."

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today hosted a spotlight forum entitled "The Cruelty Is the Point: The Deadly Legacy of ICE Detention Under President Trump." Today's forum, which featured testimony from Ricardo Hernandez-Navarrete, the Chicago student who was detained for two months and experienced harsh conditions in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities, examined how the Trump Administration's cruel immigration policies have led to a 22-year high for the rate of deaths in federal detention. Last year, under the Trump Administration's leadership, more than 30 people died in ICE custody, and at least 22 people have died this year, putting 2026 on pace to exceed 2025's record.

Durbin delivered an opening statement that underscored the severity of the conditions within ICE facilities, where detainees face abuse, retaliatory solitary confinement, and delayed and inadequate medical care. Rather than calling for investigations into the conditions at ICE facilities or blocking the President's cruel mass deportation campaign, congressional Republicans have pumped an additional $110 billion into ICE operations without any meaningful accountability or oversight.

Durbin also spoke about his ongoing investigation into ICE detention conditions at facilities throughout the country, including Dilley, a family detention facility. At the Dilley facility, Durbin's staff observed detained children in squalid conditions. These children, who expressed fear and despair about being separated from their loved ones and being removed from school, are not receiving adequate health care for serious medical conditions.

Key quotes:

"Imagine a facility where guards beat individuals for small infractions, ridicule them, throw them in solitary confinement for speaking out about abuses, and deprive them of medical care. Where this year alone, at least 22 people have died, largely due to treatable disease, illness, or suicide. Where children are forced to live in squalid conditions, and people who have never committed a single crime worry if they will ever see their families again. These conditions would be unacceptable anywhere-including in any U.S. prison. And yet, they are the conditions that thousands of people are facing every day in our nation's immigration detention centers."

"Acting with impunity, the Trump Administration has gutted oversight of immigration detention facilities by dismantling the Department of Homeland Security offices that conducted this critical work. DHS has forced members of Congress to file lawsuits to gain access to these facilities. And still the Administration tries to limit oversight, including what members of Congress and staff can see and who they can speak to."

"So what is the Trump Administration trying to hide? Over the past two years, I asked my staff to investigate. My staff visited facilities in Florida, Georgia, Texas, Louisiana, Pennsylvania, and Arizona. What they found should shock every American."

"At the Dilley facility, my staff observed children languishing in family detention. They were despondent, sharing that they missed their friends, sharing that they missed school and felt trapped. The families did not receive timely medical care; some had months-long waits to see a doctor. These issues were not specific to Dilley. At every facility, detained individuals reported they did not receive adequate treatment, including for chronic conditions like high blood pressure and diabetes."

"Timely, appropriate medical care is often the difference between a manageable illness and a medical emergency. So, it is no surprise that studies have linked poor medical care directly to deaths in detention."

"In just 16 months, more than 50 people have died in immigration detention under the Trump Administration. That's more than double the number of people who died in all four years under the previous Administration."

"How is this even possible? ICE and its contractors are clearly not using their significant, billions of dollars in resources to provide adequate medical care or to improve conditions-so how is this money being spent?"

"Let me give you one example: Camp East Montana-a $1.3 billion facility in Fort Bliss, Texas. The Department of Homeland Security rushed to open the facility, violating ICE's own policy by skipping a required safety inspection. ICE spent millions of taxpayer dollars on contracts for meals and services for individuals who were not yet detained-yet the facility did not spend the money to develop space for attorney or family visits."

"All of this is even more heartbreaking when we consider whom this Administration is putting in detention. To meet Stephen Miller's arbitrary arrest quotas, federal agents are arresting and detaining members of our communities who have lived in the United States for decades, who have no criminal history, and who have U.S. citizen spouses, children, and parents."

"This Administration has one goal-make conditions in detention so terrible, so notorious that immigrants will choose to leave, no matter what their legal status might be, what their contributions to our society happen to be, and the cost to our nation."

"I have spent more than four decades in Congress fighting for a fairer and more humane immigration system. As the son of an immigrant myself, I have been profoundly disturbed by Republicans' fast acceptance of President Trump's approach, in which cruelty is the key point."

"I look forward to hearing from today's witnesses who bring the medical, legal, and firsthand experiences necessary to understand this current detention system, and I'm grateful for their voice in the fight."

Video of Durbin's remarks is available here.

Audio of Durbin's remarks is available here.

Footage of Durbin's questions in the spotlight forum is available here for TV Stations.

Today's spotlight forum featured testimony from the following witnesses:

• Ricardo Hernandez-Navarrete spent two months in ICE detention, during which he was transferred to facilities in multiple states and experienced harsh conditions and separation from his mother. Born in Colombia, he was attending Chicago Public Schools when he and his mother were arrested at a routine immigration check-in. He was released just two days before his high school graduation.

• Michele Heisler is the Medical Director at Physicians for Human Rights and a Professor of Internal Medicine and Public Health at the University of Michigan and will testify to the lack of medical and mental health care in immigration detention. Dr. Heisler has studied the effects of immigration detention and written extensively on the subject, including a recent article in which she explained that systemic weaknesses in medical care, mental health protection, and oversight will likely cause an increase in deaths in detention.

• Michele Brané previously served as the Office of Immigration Detention Oversight Ombudsman and will testify to the dismantling of detention oversight and changes to detention management under the Trump Administration that endanger detained individuals.

• Jennifer Babaie is the Associate Director of the National Immigrant Justice Center's Adult Detention Project and will testify to the impact of the Trump Administration's interpretation of mandatory detention laws and the current legal landscape for detained individuals, including the impact of poor medical care, limited access to attorneys, and coercive practices intended to convince individuals to self-deport. She formerly represented detained clients in Texas and now represents detained Chicagoland community members.

Today's discussion followed up on Durbin's March spotlight forum entitled "The Kids Are Not Alright: How Mass Deportation is Traumatizing Children." The forum examined how the Trump Administration's anti-immigrant campaign has terrorized both immigrant and U.S. citizen children and is leaving lasting emotional scars on innocent kids.

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