Everything the stories describe here

• Medical requests ignored · 28 stories

  Requests for care, a doctor, or an emergency response were refused, delayed, or dismissed.

• Food or water withheld · 18 stories

  The person went without food or water for an extended period, or was given spoiled or inadequate food.

• Injury needing medical treatment · 10 stories

  The person or a bystander was hurt badly enough to need medical care.

• Medication withheld · 8 stories

  Prescribed medication (insulin, HIV drugs, psychiatric medication, seizure drugs, chemotherapy) was taken, withheld, or not provided.

• No bed, sleep, or basic hygiene · 8 stories

  Slept on the floor, no bed or blanket, lights on all night, no shower, no toilet access, or similar.

• Pregnant or postpartum in custody · 7 stories

  The detained person was pregnant, miscarried, gave birth, or was postpartum or breastfeeding while held.

• Suicide, attempt, or self-harm · 6 stories

  The person died by suicide, attempted it, or harmed themselves.

• Overcrowding · 4 stories

  Held in a space far over capacity: a holding cell, a bus, an airport facility, a tent.

• Shackled or chained · 4 stories

  Shackled, chained, zip-tied for long periods, restrained during transport or medical care, or held in a restraint chair.

• Punished for complaining or organizing · 4 stories

  Isolation, transfer, lost privileges, or threats after the person complained, filed a grievance, spoke to media, organized, or joined a hunger strike.

• Extreme heat or cold · 3 stories

  Held in a freezing or dangerously hot space (hieleras, no heat, no air conditioning in summer).

• Abuse or threats by staff · 3 stories

  Beatings, threats, humiliation, slurs, or theft by guards or staff.

• Firearm drawn or fired · 1 story

  Agents drew or fired a gun.

• Died in custody or soon after · 1 story

  The person died while detained, during transport, or within days of release or deportation.

• Family not told · 1 story

  Relatives were not informed of the arrest, a transfer, a hospitalization, or a death, or learned of it from the press or other detainees.

• Pepper spray, tear gas, or taser · 1 story

  Agents used pepper spray, tear gas, a taser, or similar on the person or a crowd.

• Force on family or bystanders · 1 story

  Physical force was used on a relative, child, observer, or bystander, not only the arrest target.

• Solitary confinement · 1 story

  Placed in isolation or segregation.

In their words

“All she kept asking me was, ’Why can’t we go home?’ And I said, well, based on the fact that we’re Canadian, this is what the government has decided that they are going to do with people like us that are living in the United States. So, we have to stay here until Papa and our lawyer can get us out. That’s all I could tell her. I had no idea what else to say.”

“We were immediately taken into custody and transferred to Dilley. Since then, we have done everything we can to make clear that we want to return home. We withdrew our immigration appeal, waived our rights, and asked to return voluntarily. We were even told that we had been placed on a list for a flight home. Then we were taken off the list.”

“I came on vacation for 10 Days and they took me into an ice office an officer interrogated me 2 hours without my mom, I was traveling with flight attendant because my mom lives in new york, they only wanted to arrest my mom, because my mom didn’t have documents to live in U.S.A.”