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Today, the Washington Post published an investigation into the use of force in ICE detention centers, based on a trove of leaked ICE records. They also released much of the data behind their story (more outlets need to do this).
As ICE’s crackdown on illegal immigration has flooded detention centers with record numbers of detainees, guards inside those facilities have increasingly resorted to acts of physical force. Douglas MacMillan, Andrew Ba Tran, Drea Cornejo and Luis Melgar found 4 main things...
1. During the first year of Trump’s second term, guards used physical force and chemical agents on ICE detainees 37 percent more times than the previous year.
2. Nearly 1,330 detainees were subjected to force last year, a 54 percent increase from the prior year, as facilities increasingly used force against multiple detainees at a time.
3. Since the beginning of 2024, at least 106 detainees have been injured as a result of use-of-force incidents, including seizures, dislocated shoulders, broken arms, head injuries and eye injuries.
4. In several of the incidents covered by the reports, chemical agents were used on large groups of detainees who were demanding things to which they are legally entitled, including adequate water and medical care.
These findings are based on 1,460 summaries of use-of-force reports contained in ICE emails known as the Daily Detainee Assault Report. They span incidents reported January 2024 through February 2026 by 98 detention facilities which held 86% of all ICE detainees during that time.
This is a must-read article based on TONS of data and analysis. Grateful to this team for incredible reporting and their commitment to methodological transparency.