loading . . . An Open Letter I write as a deeply concerned citizen to demand immediate congressional action in response to documented human rights violations in 2025 involving ICE detention practices — as well as grave abuses committed by the U.S. military abroad under the current administration. These actions betray fundamental U.S. commitments to human rights, basic dignity, and the rule of law.
Verified Findings — Human Rights Violations in 2025
ICE Detention Abuses
• A September 2025 investigation by Physicians for Human Rights, the Peeler Immigration Lab, and Harvard Law School reveals that over 10,000 individuals were placed in solitary confinement in ICE custody between April 2024 and May 2025 — with a sharp increase in early 2025 under current enforcement policies. The report shows monthly increases of 6.5% in solitary use, more than six times the rate during the prior administration. ICIJ (https://www.icij.org/news/2025/09/solitary-confinement-in-ice-detention-spiked-during-early-months-of-the-trump-administration-report-finds/?utm_source=chatgpt.com)
• According to a 2025 report from Human Rights Watch (HRW), ICE detention facilities in Florida — including those under intensive use in 2025 — have exceeded capacity, with detainees subjected to overcrowding, inadequate medical care, unsanitary and degrading conditions, denial of basic necessities, and even deaths potentially linked to medical neglect. Human Rights Watch+1 (https://www.hrw.org/news/2025/07/21/us-immigrants-abused-in-florida-detention-sites?utm_source=chatgpt.com)
• A December 2025 report by Amnesty International details shocking abuses at the Florida facilities known as Alligator Alcatraz and Krome North Service Processing Center (Krome): detainees held in tiny outdoor “cages,” deprived of adequate water, sanitation, proper hygiene or medical care; reports of shackling, 24-hour lighting, insect infestations; and the use of a 2×2-foot “box” as punishment with individuals restrained on the ground — practices the report states “in some cases amount to torture.” Amnesty International (https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2025/12/estados-unidos-nuevas-investigaciones-revelan-violaciones-de-derechos-humanos-en-los-centros-de-detencion-de-alligator-alcatraz-y-krome-en-florida/?utm_source=chatgpt.com)
• Amnesty’s report further reveals that “Alligator Alcatraz” is operated outside standard federal oversight and lacks basic tracking or registration mechanisms; this has facilitated incommunicado detention and enforced disappearances, where detainees’ whereabouts become unknown to family or legal counsel. Amnesty International (https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2025/12/estados-unidos-nuevas-investigaciones-revelan-violaciones-de-derechos-humanos-en-los-centros-de-detencion-de-alligator-alcatraz-y-krome-en-florida/?utm_source=chatgpt.com)
• In light of these abuses, Amnesty and human rights organizations have concluded these detention practices constitute systemic cruelty — not isolated lapses — and have called for the immediate shutdown of such facilities, and for the federal government to end the mass-detention regime. Amnesty International+1 (https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2025/12/estados-unidos-nuevas-investigaciones-revelan-violaciones-de-derechos-humanos-en-los-centros-de-detencion-de-alligator-alcatraz-y-krome-en-florida/?utm_source=chatgpt.com)
U.S. Military / War-Related Abuses
• On 28 April 2025, the U.S. military carried out an air strike on a migrant detention center located in Sa’ada, Yemen — a facility known to house African migrants. According to Amnesty International’s investigation: satellite imagery, video evidence, and survivor testimony confirm the strike hit a civilian detention center, not a military objective; dozens of detained migrants were killed or grievously injured. Amnesty International+2Amnesty International+2 (https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2025/05/yemen-us-air-strike-that-has-left-dozens-of-migrants-dead-must-be-investigated/?utm_source=chatgpt.com)
• The evidence shows that many victims suffered severe injuries — amputations, head and spinal trauma, loss of limbs and eyes — consistent with what Amnesty calls a “mass-casualty attack on a known civilian target.” Amnesty has urged the U.S. government to conduct a prompt, thorough, independent and transparent investigation, and to treat the attack as a potential war crime under international law. Amnesty International+1 (https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2025/10/yemen-us-air-strike-on-migrant-detention-centre-must-be-investigated-as-a-war-crime/?utm_source=chatgpt.com)
Why This Must Demand Congressional Action
These are not isolated or fringe reports. They are based on recent, rigorous, on-the-ground investigation, satellite imagery, detainee testimony, and official data. The documented abuses — indefinite detention, solitary confinement, inhumane and degrading treatment, secretive detention centers, medical neglect, and indiscriminate lethal force abroad — violate the core tenets of human dignity, due process, and international humanitarian law that the United States professes to uphold.
The scale and pattern of violations point to systemic policy failures and institutional cruelty, not simple mismanagement. It is the responsibility of Congress to provide oversight, ensure accountability, and prevent further abuses.
What I Urge You to Do Immediately
As your constituent, I call on you to:
• Initiate full congressional oversight hearings into ICE’s 2025 detention practices — especially focusing on solitary confinement, the use of “Alligator Alcatraz” and similar facilities outside standard oversight, medical neglect, shackling and improper disciplinary practices, and deaths in custody.
• Demand independent investigations and public release of all data: detainee demographics, deaths, conditions, transfers, use of solitary confinement, and access (or lack thereof) to medical care and legal counsel.
• Support legislation banning indefinite detention, secret detention centers, and prolonged solitary confinement under immigration enforcement, especially for individuals with no criminal history.
• Require humane alternatives to detention — such as community-based supervision and legal representation for asylum seekers and immigrants — and prohibit the criminalization of migration.
• Hold the military accountable for unlawful killings and civilian harm abroad: insist on transparent investigations and demand reparations, including full medical care and resettlement.
• Ensure all contracts and detention agreements (federal, state, private) comply with international human rights and humanitarian law — and revoke those that don’t.
The United States cannot credibly claim moral leadership in the world while engaging in — or tolerating — widespread abuses at home and indiscriminate lethal violence abroad. What is happening under ICE and U.S. war operations in 2025 is a profound betrayal of human dignity and international law.
I urge you to act — now — to stop these abuses, hold perpetrators accountable, and safeguard the rights and lives of all incarcerated migrants and innocent civilians affected by U.S. military operations.
Thank you for your prompt attention. I look forward to your response and leadership.
Respectfully,
A North Dakota citizen https://resist.bot/letters/caec0b13-2aa5-47fd-acf9-7a772cf858b4
