For detained immigrants, the stakes are higher than just captivity
If you want to know how ICE treats immigrants, just watch how they treat U.S. citizens.
In February 2024, Andrew Callaghan (a sort of independent journalist who founded the “Channel 5” youtube channel) released one of the strangest and yet most impactful pieces of journalism I’ve ever encountered.
The video, titled “Border Patrol Arrest”, is a sequel to the video “Hopping the Border”, and tells the story of how Andrew and his cameraman, Susan, were detained for three days after illegally crossing the Mexican border into Texas. Their intent was to make a video that explored the full “immigrant experience”. Apparently, nobody in Andrew’s circle told him that crossing the border illegally is, well, illegal, even for U.S. citizens.
The video currently sits at just shy of five million views.
I’d encourage you to watch the full video if you have the time. Granted, the laissez-faire-frat-coded tone is… off-putting, considering the seriousness of the situation. At one point we see that while Andrew is detained, the rest of his “bros” go to a Halloween party that turns out to be an absolute rager.
But in spite of the storytelling style, the video is a comprehensive first hand account of how casually our government tortures people.
For the majority of their detainment, Andrew and Susan were placed in solitary confinement, in rooms that have come to be called hieleras (or ice boxes), by the people who have passed through U.S. detainment centers. According to the video, these rooms are kept at a constant 62 degrees and are lit 24/7 with bright fluorescent lights. There are no windows, and no bed. Just a small bench, and a toilet in the corner.
When Andrew and Susan requested a blanket or a mat, they were ignored. When they asked if the temperature could be adjusted, they were ignored. When they asked if they could have a shower, or water, they were ignored. Any appeals for medical attention by the other detained people in the center were also ignored. Food was given once a day, and it was usually rotten, but considering the circumstances everyone ate it anyways.
They were released after three days of detainment. An immigration officer took Andrew and Susan to a nearby gas station and simply dropped them off with their belongings. They were never charged with a crime, and (as far as I know) the government never responded to the video.
You may or may not be surprised to hear that hieleras were in wide use during Biden’s presidency. It may be even less surprising to hear that the practice can be traced all the way back to 2015, and likely before that. If anything, Andrew and Susan’s experience was the luxury version. The DHS has been known to keep 10-20 people in these rooms for weeks at a time. In 2018, a 7-year-old girl died after being kept in an hielera.
Which comes to the point - the people being detained by ICE are not just in danger of being deported to a country they’ve never been to, they are in mortal, physical danger right now.
Last month Nenko Gantchev, a man who had lived in Chicago for 30 years, died while in ICE custody. Nenko was a type-2 diabetic, and according to Nenko’s wife, he was consistently denied medical care while being detained, and ICE did not accommodate his diabetic diet. In all likelihood, he was given the same rotten food as everyone else. The DHS “suspected” Nenko’s death was due to natural causes, but it is (unfortunately) not hard to imagine that a diabetic man in his mid-late-50’s, when subjected to months of stress and inhumane conditions, including being denied essential medical care, could die just from the accumulation of it all.
Everyone knows how broken our immigration system is, but brutality and cruelty are not viable solutions. And everyday our govt tortures people by placing them in hieleras, and refusing to give them edible food, and refusing to give them water, and refusing them access to medical care, is another day that that the U.S. could have more blood on her hands.
2025 was the deadliest year on record for people in ICE custody. 30 people died. Most, you could say, were killed by the U.S. government. And given our current administration’s attitudes, I would expect that number to be higher next year.
There is a cynical argument there - that the number of deaths was expected to go up naturally because the numbers of people being detained is also going up (and quite rapidly at that).
But that is an argument we cannot accept. There should be 0 deaths a year. Zero, regardless of how many people are being detained. And if someone dies in custody, that person’s death needs to be thoroughly investigated. And if the cause of death was identified to be our government, then a remedy should be immediately identified and applied through a process that is transparent and just.
Sounds like a fantasy world, doesn’t it? But a better system, a kind system, a just system, is possible.
Until then, we must demand - and as a taxpaying citizen of this country, I demand - that our immigration enforcement officers immediately stop torturing people and treat immigrants and U.S. citizens alike with basic human decency.
I believe America is (or at least I would like her to be) a country that treats immigrants with respect and dignity, regardless of their circumstances or where they come from.
We have a long ways to go, but I truly believe that we can get there.