Rep. Summer Lee Calls for Closure of Moshannon Detention Facility After Reports of Hunger Strike Following Abuse and Retaliation

WASHINGTON D.C. - APRIL 22, 2026 - Today, Congresswoman Summer L. Lee (PA-12) condemned conditions at the Moshannon Detention Facility and called for accountability and closure following reports of a hunger strike over food conditions and allegations that detainees were placed in solitary confinement after speaking out.

Last year,Rep. Lee attempted to enter the facility as part of a lawful congressional oversight visit but was denied access, raising serious concerns about transparency and conditions inside the privately operated detention center.

"Moshannon Detention Facility reflects the cruelty, secrecy, and dehumanization that have long defined the Trump administration's approach to immigration," said Rep. Lee. "When I was denied entry during a lawful oversight visit, it raised serious concerns about what ICE and this privately run facility do not want the public to see. Reports of a hunger strike over terrible conditions, of detainees becoming sick because of the food, and of detainees being placed in solitary confinement after speaking out only confirm that without real oversight, abuse and neglect will continue."

Rep. Lee confirmed that she plans to make another effort to visit the facility and continue pressing for transparency and accountability.

"I plan to make another effort to conduct oversight over the facility to ensure transparency and accountability," Rep. Lee continued. "Taxpayer dollars should not fund private institutions that inhumanely incarcerate people with little to no oversight or meaningful accountability. At every turn, we have seen private detention facilities brazenly profit off the pain of immigrant communities, while families are left to carry the trauma, fear, and uncertainty that this system creates."

The Moshannon facility, which transitioned from a federal prison to an ICE detention center, has drawn increasing scrutiny over conditions, oversight, and the use of public resources to support private immigration detention.

"The people detained at Moshannon, their families, and the surrounding community deserve far better than this," Rep. Lee said. "Moshannon should be shut down, and we should be investing instead in systems that protect dignity, support families, and strengthen communities."

Congresswoman Summer Lee serves on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and the Committee on Education and Workforce. Since taking office in January 2023, shehas delivered historic levels of federal investment totaling over $2.7 Billion brought back to Western PA, including over $580 million for infrastructure, over $110 million for affordable transit, over $500 million to keep clean energy manufacturing at home in Pennsylvania, and over $55 million on clean energy efforts in and around schools to help keep our kids and communities safe. These investments will help improve Western Pennsylvania's infrastructure and transit, ensure cleaner air and drinking water, lower housing costs, fund research institutions, fuel clean manufacturing, fund STEM innovation and entrepreneurship, boost workforce development, and create thousands of good paying union jobs.  Lee and her team have also delivered casework and constituent services to over 4,000 constituents with issues ranging from helping our seniors and disabled community access Medicare and social security to helping folks secure housing and helping families with immigration support and passports.