Thread by @RachelMcGonagi1

8,000+ cases of solitary confinement of immigrants in ICE custody, for such egregious acts as...*checks notes* ...hiding a green pepper in their sock, having a prosthetic leg, and worst...being gay.

One trans woman was isolated AFTER a suicide attempt. 🤦🏻‍♀️
nbcnews.com/politics/immig…

Dulce Rivera, the woman above, is transgender, & was falsely accused of harassing other inmates before she was 1st confined. She lost the will to live, attempted suicide, but then she was KEPT confined, except w/further restrictions.

For 10 more months.
icij.org/investigations…

In ONE THIRD of the 8,000 cases of solitary confinement, including Dulce's, the detainee has a history of mental illness. Some, including Dulce, even have a history of suicide attempts.

SEVEN PEOPLE have committed suicide in solitary confinement in ICE custody.

In this interactive page, you can use filters to see what the "reasons" were for the over 8000 placements of solitary, what countries people were from, how long people were kept in solitary, and what facility had the most placements (Adelanto by a mile.)
icij.org/investigations…

Ellen Gallagher was a policy adviser in the Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties at DHS, and she started reviewing the "segregation reports" that came from ICE about people they isolated and their reasoning.

"She was disturbed."
icij.org/investigations…

ICE had put out a "directive" in 2013 that, among other things, set up a review council on their segregation practices. Gallagher would end up working on that council, but her efforts to bring abuses to the attention of anyone up the chain went unheeded.

She contacted her boss

at CRCL, who refused to pass along her concerns to Jeh Johnson. She contacted DHS' Deputy Secretary. And OIG. And the Special Counsel's Office. Members of Congress, & Congressional Committees.

They did virtually nothing.

Now she's come out to the public.

Now, OIG did do a coupla inspections, and did release a couple of damning, but kinda milquetoast, reports toward the end of 2017. They could've come down a lot more strongly.

Solitary & Mental illness: oig.dhs.gov/sites/default/…

Maybe Misused Segregation:
oig.dhs.gov/sites/default/…

@ifindkarma @HMAesq @axidentaliberal @SirineShebaya @RepJayapal @B52Malmet @JeffMerkley @JynErso_Patriot @TheLoyalO @moved2italy People who are mentally ill will have an exacerbation of their symptoms when placed in isolation for long periods of time. Hallucinations. Self-harming behavior. Suicidal ideation. This isn't rocket surgery.

bit.ly/2QaXWVJ

@ifindkarma @HMAesq @axidentaliberal @SirineShebaya @RepJayapal @B52Malmet @JeffMerkley @JynErso_Patriot @TheLoyalO @moved2italy It's one of the reasons the UN considers solitary for more than 15 days to be torture.

When you add in that many in ICE detention centers are ASYLUM SEEKERS and have committed NO CRIMES, but have themselves been persecuted or tortured and may have PTSD....well, it's disturbing.

@ifindkarma @HMAesq @axidentaliberal @SirineShebaya @RepJayapal @B52Malmet @JeffMerkley @JynErso_Patriot @TheLoyalO @moved2italy And it's yet another reason why asylum seekers should not be subjected to detention...and why ICE needs to be abolished ASAP.

Seeking asylum is legal. So is being disabled, gay, or having a green pepper in your sock.

None of these should get you 15 days in solitary confinement.

@ifindkarma @HMAesq @axidentaliberal @SirineShebaya @RepJayapal @B52Malmet @JeffMerkley @JynErso_Patriot @TheLoyalO @moved2italy @ImmJusticeNOW @ImmaBlueDot @lfkraus @LunaLuvgood2020 @LesleyAnnBrandt @RepAdamSmith @KamalaHarris @RepPeterDeFazio @JacksonLeeTX18 @CoryBooker What YOU can do:

1) Call your Electeds and tell them to:
a. support the Dignity for Detained Immigrants Act, HR 2415/S 1243
b. call for a new, more thorough inspection from OIG of "segregation" in ICE detention, aka solitary confinement

☎️ 202-224-3121☎️

@ifindkarma @HMAesq @axidentaliberal @SirineShebaya @RepJayapal @B52Malmet @JeffMerkley @JynErso_Patriot @TheLoyalO @moved2italy @ImmJusticeNOW @ImmaBlueDot @lfkraus @LunaLuvgood2020 @LesleyAnnBrandt @RepAdamSmith @KamalaHarris @RepPeterDeFazio @JacksonLeeTX18 @CoryBooker 2) Support organizations providing legal services for detainees. Someone with a lawyer is much more likely to be released from detention, or win their asylum case, than one who doesn't.

There are a number of such services in my Giant Conglomerate Thread:

https://twitter.com/RachelMcGonagi1/status/1123287850487767040?s=20

@ifindkarma @HMAesq @axidentaliberal @SirineShebaya @RepJayapal @B52Malmet @JeffMerkley @JynErso_Patriot @TheLoyalO @moved2italy @ImmJusticeNOW @ImmaBlueDot @lfkraus @LunaLuvgood2020 @LesleyAnnBrandt @RepAdamSmith @KamalaHarris @RepPeterDeFazio @JacksonLeeTX18 @CoryBooker 3) MAKE NOISE -- on social media, at protests (like on June 29th) in DC or on your very own street corner, in your local paper, at your state Capitol building (lodging a complaint w/whatever civil rights office they have, if you've a facility in your state that uses segregation.)

@ifindkarma @HMAesq @axidentaliberal @SirineShebaya @RepJayapal @B52Malmet @JeffMerkley @JynErso_Patriot @TheLoyalO @moved2italy @ImmJusticeNOW @ImmaBlueDot @lfkraus @LunaLuvgood2020 @LesleyAnnBrandt @RepAdamSmith @KamalaHarris @RepPeterDeFazio @JacksonLeeTX18 @CoryBooker 4) Keep yourself informed! Watch this hearing tomorrow of DHS' Acting Secretary testifying in front of the House Homeland Security Committee about his FY2020 budget. I imagine that's not all McAleenan will be required to answer for.

Starts at 9:30 EST.
homeland.house.gov/hearings-and-m…