We got our hands on internal ICE records that show how widespread use of force, like punches, kicks, takedown maneuvers, restraint holds, and less-lethal weapons such as Tasers and pepper spray in detention centers has grown wapo.st/4tdgBRA (1/)

We obtained a trove of internal ICE records showing detention center guards have increasingly used physical force and chemical agents on detainees. Gift link: wapo.st/4tdgBRA story w/ @abtran.bsky.social & team

"The incident was one of at least 780 in which staff members at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facilities used physical force or chemical agents to control immigrant detainees during the first year of the Trump administration." Gift link: wapo.st/4tdgBRA

Update: ICE has switched contractors at Camp East Montana and said the facility will stay open: wapo.st/415gawR I corrected my earlier story, which incorrectly said a document showed ICE was taking steps to close CEM. Actually, the document only said ICE planned to terminate contract.

They reincorporated in Tennessee shortly later (h/t @aaronschaffer.com)

A great honor to join @wbur.org's On Point with Meghna Chakrabarti yesterday to talk about who profits from ICE detention, alongside the astute @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social. Catch the whole conversation here: www.wbur.org/onpoint/2026...

As the Trump administration embarks on a $38 billion plan to convert industrial warehouses into large-scale holding centers, it is turning to relatively untested businesses to rapidly build and operate the facilities.

Local Republicans are getting slammed so hard on ICE warehouse plans that DHS is having to feed them talking points @douglasmac.bsky.social www.washingtonpost.com/investigatio...

Camp East Montana was supposed to be the Trump administration's model for a new breed of large-scale, makeshift immigrant detention centers. Eight tumultuous months, 60 violations and three deaths later, ICE is preparing to close it. New from me: t.co/jOIIRAMJCo

ICE has been buying warehouses around the US, with plans to turn them into a network of processing & detention centers to hold migrants. Our @pbsnews.org segment with @elizlanders.bsky.social @kylemidura.bsky.social and conversation with @douglasmac.bsky.social www.pbs.org/newshour/sho...

Thank you to all for the kind notes. This week has been shattering. Somehow I’m still here. I’ll do my best for as long as I can. Here’s how to help the ones we lost: Hire them. They’re brilliant. Donate: US www.gofundme.com/f/standing-t... International www.gofundme.com/f/support-fo...

Hundreds of journalists lost their jobs today for reasons I cannot comprehend. They include some of the best reporters, editors, photographers in the world and I am extremely grateful to have worked with them. Here’s one way to help them out in this difficult time www.gofundme.com/f/standing-t...

ICE just bought warehouses for mega-detention centers in MD & AZ and is nearing deals in GA, MO, NY, NJ, FL. Residents and local officials are pushing back, and scored wins this week in VA & OK. But it’s not clear this plan can be stopped. w/ Jonathan O'Connell. Gift link: wapo.st/49ZKA7W

This week, a man in ICE custody bravely went on the record telling me he witnessed guards choking another detainee to death -- an account supported by medical examiner findings. Now, DHS is trying to deport him and another one of my sources. Gift link: wapo.st/4qR1T1U

Geraldo Lunas Campos died Jan. 3 after a struggle with ICE detention center staff. The medical examiner believes it's homicide. ICE is now saying he tried to kill himself. But an eyewitness claims Lunas Campos was handcuffed while guards choked him to death. Gift link: wapo.st/49FW4NG

SCOOP from Douglas Macmillan Medical examiner believes death of man in ICE custody was homicide, recording says www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/...

Breaking news: An employee of El Paso County’s Office of the Medical Examiner said it is likely to classify the death of Geraldo Lunas Campos at an ICE detention center as a homicide. A detainee says he witnessed Campos being choked to death by guards.

“I’m supportive of the president, but I don’t particularly want this." My visit with a small town in Georgia that's gearing up to fight the Trump administration on a plan to convert a warehouse into an ICE detention center with capacity for 9k immigrant detainees. Gift link--> wapo.st/4qhiZGi

ICE wants to hold 80,000 people in warehouses. ICE's acting director in April: "We need to get better at treating this like a business ... Like Prime, but with human beings." www.washingtonpost.com/business/202... @douglasmac.bsky.social

This month, ICE inspectors toured the giant new Fort Bliss tent camp for migrants, built in under two months. They found 60 violations of federal detention standards, many of which directly impacted the safety of workers and detainees, we reported today in @washingtonpost.com 🧵-->

ICE is sprinting to 100k immigrant detention beds this year, and we got the internal road map. It includes: ✅ More large-scale facilities ✅ More soft-sided tent cities ✅ Record number of family detention beds Details in story @washingtonpost.com wapo.st/45hE9fq 🧵 Threading highlights ->

We got ICE documents revealing their initial plans to expand detention centers across the US. From @douglasmac.bsky.social, N Kirkpatrick & the data team's Lydia Sidhom: www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/...

My latest on ICE’s business ties: One of the key figures overseeing ICE’s unprecedented detention surge worked the last 12 years as an executive and consultant for private prison firm Geo Group and got an ethics waiver to work on Geo matters. www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...

The more I dig into the unfolding immigration crackdown at ICE, the more I find evidence of a business motive at play. My latest story details a new policy to sharply expand the number of immigrants on GPS ankle monitors -- and make $$$ for a Florida private prison conglomerate. wapo.st/3TY4bOf

Florida man arrested for child predation based on a bad facial recognition match: "This is f***ing nuts" As has been the case in other wrongful arrests, police showed facial recognition search results to eyewitnesses. This is a terrible practice, should be banned. www.youtube.com/watch?v=He8-...

Congress allocated $45 billion to spend locking up immigrants over the next four years — more than the government spent on ICE detention during the Obama, Biden and first Trump administrations combined. Story: www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...

Congress allocated $45 billion to spend locking up immigrants over the next four years — more than the government spent on ICE detention during the Obama, Biden and first Trump administrations combined. Story: www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...

My reporting showed New Orleans police were likely violating a local ordinance by running a live facial recognition surveillance program. The city's response: Legalize this technology. www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...

Border czar Tom Homan, captain of the "zero tolerance" policy that split migrant parents from their kids, was paid money by the private-prison company that profits off detaining immigrants. Drain the swamp www.washingtonpost.com/business/202... @douglasmac.bsky.social @aaronschaffer.com

One of the hard lines on facial recognition technology in the U.S. has been using it to do live searches on real-time cameras. The Washington Post reports that's been happening in New Orleans, however, by a police-adjacent nonprofit called PROJECT NOLA. www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...

New Orleans police used secret network of 200 facial recognition cameras to scan people on public streets and ping nearby cops. The "technology nightmare scenario that we have been worried about" www.washingtonpost.com/business/202... @douglasmac.bsky.social @aaronschaffer.com

Immigrants are being forced to sleep on floors at overwhelmed ICE detention centers: “You’re stripped from your humanity" www.washingtonpost.com/business/202... @douglasmac.bsky.social

Christopher Gatlin spent 16 months in jail after being charged with assault in St. Louis. Another incident of police relying too heavily on facial recognition tech: www.washingtonpost.com/business/int...

Biased facial recognition algorithms combined with law enforcement misuse of that technology is a recipe for injustice. It must end. Congress must pass my bill to place a moratorium on government and law enforcement use of these tools. www.washingtonpost.com/business/int...

We made a podcast that delves into the “outrageously dystopian” story of Chris Gatlin, the St. Louis man jailed for 16 months after police connected him to an assault using facial recognition and one very dubious witness statement. Produced by Emma Talkoff www.washingtonpost.com/podcasts/pos...

I've spent the past year obsessed with how police are using facial recognition. What I found: Police in 12 states have used these tools to find and arrest suspects when they have no other evidence, leading to wrongful arrests wapo.st/4fQYlXn 🧵 what I learned from 1,000 docs & dozens of sources ->