ICE and Migrants With Disabilities

While I was doing research on migrants being detained by ICE, I found an article by Mike Ervin for The Progressive Magazine about how detained migrants with disabilities are being mistreated by ICE (https://progressive.org/latest/ices-mistreatment-of-people-with-disabil…).

Ervin writes: "Last August, more than thirty members of Congress sent a letter to Kristi Noem, Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which has jurisdiction over ICE.

'It is unacceptable that detainees with disabilities are routinely denied access to medications, assistive devices, and means of communication until emergencies arise,” the lawmakers wrote. “This pattern of neglect demands immediate federal oversight, accountability, and enforcement of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and DHS’s own regulations.'”

A July 17, 2025 report by Disabilities Rights California (https://www.disabilityrightsca.org/drc-advocacy/investigations/inside-t…) states:

"Overall, DRC found serious issues including: (1) inadequate access to medical treatment, such as life-saving medication and wound care, and exposure to widespread respiratory illnesses; (2) inadequate access to food and water, including extreme delays in meal distribution, provision of food that results in significant health issues, and a shortage of drinking water; (3) inadequate access to clean clothes, with many remaining in soiled clothing for long periods of time; and (4) minimal opportunities to contact family. Further intensifying these issues, many of the people DRC interviewed had never experienced incarceration and felt overwhelmed and terrified by their confinement in a locked, jail-like facility."

REFERENCES
"The Danger ICE Poses to the Disabled Community" by Alison Stine for Nonprofit Quarterly
https://nonprofitquarterly.org/the-danger-ice-poses-to-the-disabled-com…

"Immigrant Rights are Disability Rights: ICE & Law Enforcement Violence Must End" by the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund
https://dredf.org/immigrant-rights-and-ice-out/

"For disabled Minnesotans, Operation Metro Surge brought heightened risk and fear" by Shubhanjana Das for Sahan Journal
https://sahanjournal.com/immigration/minnesota-ice-surge-disabled-immig…