1. United States
2. Iowa
3. Letter

I am a voter and taxpayer in your district, and I am writing to you today because children — some as young as 13 years old — are being raped in U.S. immigration detention facilities, and the federal government knows about it. I can no longer stay silent, and I do not believe you can either. This is not a rumor. This has been verified by NPR, PBS NewsHour, the ACLU, Human Rights Watch, the Center for Reproductive Rights, and a formal congressional investigation led by Senator Jon Ossoff. The facts are these: Since mid-2024, the Trump administration has been routing all pregnant unaccompanied migrant girls to a single facility in San Benito, Texas — over the documented objections of the government’s own child welfare officials. Some of these girls are 13 years old. At least half became pregnant as a direct result of rape. Legal advocates report that these children are being deliberately held in Texas — a state with one of the strictest abortion bans in the country — leaving rape survivors with no legal options and no medical recourse. Beyond that single facility, Senator Ossoff’s formal investigation has identified 510 credible reports of human rights abuses in immigration detention since January 2025 alone — including 41 cases of physical or sexual abuse and 14 cases of mistreatment of pregnant women. The Center for Reproductive Rights has documented women being shackled to beds and denied prenatal care. ICE stopped reporting pregnancy data to Congress entirely after that oversight mandate expired in late 2024. This is a violation of the Prison Rape Elimination Act, which legally applies to immigration detention. It is a violation of basic human decency. And it is happening in our name, with our tax dollars. I am asking you to take the following specific actions: 1. Call immediately for congressional oversight hearings on conditions at the San Benito facility and all ICE and ORR detention sites housing minors. 2. Demand independent inspections of every facility currently holding children or pregnant women. 3. Support legislation to end the detention of minors and pregnant women in facilities unequipped to meet their medical and safety needs. 4. Restore and strengthen mandatory ICE pregnancy and abuse reporting requirements to Congress. 5. Support legislation to defund and dismantle ICE in its current form, replacing it with an agency operating under enforceable human rights standards, independent oversight, and full congressional accountability. 6. Ensure that every child in federal custody who was sexually abused has access to justice — and that every federal employee who committed abuse faces full criminal prosecution. Will you commit to calling for an independent investigation of the San Benito facility and publicly stating your position on these demands? I am asking as a constituent who votes, who is paying attention, and who will share your response with my community. I will follow up with your office within 30 days. The children in these facilities have no voice in our democracy. You do. Please use it.