Complaint filed with DHS for Human Rights Violations at ICE Processing Center in Louisiana

By Chris Hegwood, Rising 2L at St. Louis University School of Law

On June 21, 2021, Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights (RFK), Immigration Services and Legal Advocacy (ISLA), and a coalition of fifteen immigrant rights organizations submitted a complaint to the Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security requesting an investigation into the human rights violations at the for-profit run Pine Prairie ICE Processing Center, located two hours northeast of Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

The thirty-one-page complaint, found here, details systemic human rights violations, including violations of the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment, which the United States has ratified; the First, Fifth, and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution; and ICE’s own policies within the Performance Based National Standards 2011 (PBNDS 2011), all discovered through a joint investigation of the facility by RFK and ISLA.

During interviews, detainees described conditions that include lack of access to safe food and potable water – being served expired milk, moldy bread, and discolored water with visible debris; unsanitary conditions – cells and showers with ant infestations and no toilet paper; lack of protection against COVID-19 – inability to social distance, no personal protective equipment and failure to follow CDC’s COVID-19 guidance.

The complaint outlines recommendations and requested a response from the Department of Homeland Security by July 21, 2021.