Seven Rape Reports, Zero Investigations. And This Isn't Unusual.

Decades of DHS Inspector General audits, administrative complaints, and investigative reports document systemic sexual assault and severe oversight failures within ICE and CBP detention facilities. 2025 was the deadliest year on record for ICE detention, and current data shows 2026 is on pace to be worse. Rapid expansion, private operators, and compressed staffing models heighten these risks. A CalMatters investigation revealed the San Diego County Sheriff's Office failed to investigate at least seven reported rapes in 2025 at the privately run Otay Mesa facility. Handoffs to local law enforcement that simply decline to investigate create a paper requirement with zero accountability. This breakdown is structural. The Department of Justice excludes immigration detention from full Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) protections, and ICE grants waivers exempting facilities from PREA standards entirely. Congress cannot appropriate billions in funding while safety rules contain built-in loopholes. I urge you to use upcoming DHS spending negotiations to: - Condition Appropriations: Bar federal funds from any facility—public, private, or county-contracted—that fails independent PREA audits, holds a PREA waiver, or fails to report abuse allegations to an independent federal investigative body within 24 hours. - Establish Independent Oversight: Create a dedicated office to directly investigate sexual abuse in ICE and CBP custody, eliminating reliance on local agencies that lack jurisdiction or willingness to act. - Mandate Unannounced Access: Guarantee immediate, unannounced access for congressional oversight teams, the DHS OIG, and independent health officials to all holding areas. - Fund Legal Access & Protection: Increase funding for legal representation and oversight ombudsmen so victims can report misconduct without fear of retaliatory transfers or deportation. Rape is not an unfortunate side effect of overcrowding; it is a violent crime committed against people stripped of the ability to protect themselves. When a facility's response to an abuse allegation is a phone call to a sheriff's office that never opens a case file, that is not oversight—it is a government building its own alibi. Stop treating sexual violence in federal custody as an acceptable operating cost. Demand basic human decency and accountability in all upcoming DHS appropriations.