1. United States
2. Mich.
3. Letter

To the Members of the United States Congress, I am writing to demand an immediate and transparent oversight hearing with Patrick Swindle, CEO of CoreCivic, and J. David Donahue, CEO of GEO Group. As our nation’s primary contractors for DHS detention, these individuals oversee a system that is currently failing its most basic moral and legal obligations. While these corporations report record-breaking revenues—with GEO Group projecting $3 billion this year—the human cost is staggering. Reports from 2025 and early 2026 indicate that deaths in custody have reached a twenty-year high, with nearly 40 confirmed fatalities in a single year. Senator Jon Ossoff’s recent investigation has laid bare a "deportation-industrial complex" defined by systemic medical neglect, withheld insulin, and "inedible" food paste. The discrepancy between these companies' "corporate values" and the reality of their facilities is a national embarrassment. We are witnessing: Preventable Deaths: Detainees dying within days of each other due to lack of intervention. Medical Neglect: Credible reports of heart attacks following days of untreated chest pain. Inhumane Conditions: Overcrowding and limited access to basic hygiene or legal counsel. As taxpayers, we are effectively subsidizing the violation of international law and constitutional protections. Congress must not allow these executives to operate in the shadows while pocketing public funds. Even as the minority party, Democrats have the authority to initiate this accountability. Under House Rule XI, Clause 2(j)(1)—the "Minority Witness Rule"—a majority of the minority members can demand at least one day of hearing to call witnesses of their choosing. There is no excuse for inaction when lives are being lost for-profit. It is time to pull back the curtain on CoreCivic and GEO Group. We demand a public hearing where these CEOs must answer for the suffering occurring under their watch.