Ossoff, Warnock want information on immigration detention deaths : NPR

The detainees are seen in a courtyard at Folkston Ice Processing Center on September 9, 2025 in Folkston, Georgia. The two State Democratic Senators require responses from the Ministry of Internal Security after more than a dozen people died in immigration detention establishments.

Elijah Nouvelage / AFP via Getty Images

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Elijah Nouvelage / AFP via Getty Images

The Democratic Senators of Georgia ask the Secretary of Internal Security, Kristi Noem, to provide more information on recent deaths in immigration detention centers, including the conditions of detainees.

Since President Trump took office, 15 people died in immigration detention, 10 of these deaths occurred between January and June, Sense. Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock wrote in a shared letter exclusively with NPR. Senators say that this is the highest rate in the first six months of any year accessible to the public.

“Whatever our opinions on the application of borders, the application of immigration, immigration policy, I think that the overwhelming majority of the American people does not want prisoners to be abused while they are in police custody,” Ossoff told NPR in an interview.

The Department of Internal Security rushes to extend the detention space and increase arrest rates after the congress provided billions of additional funding. Throughout the country, overcrowding reports, unsanitary conditions and problems with access to food and health care were the product of an objective to make more arrests. NPR has contacted DHS and immigration and customs application for comments.

The letter follows A report published by Ossoff in July This alleges that human rights violations have occurred in immigration detention centers, including childlessness, citizens and pregnant women. DHS has largely refuted the affirmations.

Earlier this year, ice officials announced that the agency was not in detention. In the summer, more than 50,000 people were in detention, but the ice had only 46,000 beds.

Since then, Ice has announced an expand of the detention space through the Use of military bases and state partnerships in Indiana,, NebraskaAnd Louisiana.

But the expansion and rapid use of other facilities have aroused criticism from immigration defenders and Democrats.

Concerns about the conditions of detention also come after DHS cut the jobs in surveillance Divisions focused on civil rights. This included widespread cuts in the Ombudman of immigration detentionwhich leads to monitoring ice and customs and the detention of border protection.

The acting director of the ice, Todd Lyons, was questioned about death deaths and delays in reports during a congress Surveillance hearing in May.

“We are putting an in -depth investigation into all these elements,” said Lyons, adding that he would guarantee that information on detention was accessible to the public online in accordance with congress mandates. “Ice is dedicated to transparency.”

In the letter, Ossoff and Warnock reiterate the concern of the delayed report of death.

“Ice does not meet its own standards to report the deaths of detainees, thus hampering the surveillance efforts of the congress and leaving families in ignorance regarding the destinations of their relatives,” they wrote, Add this ICE guidance Requires that the agency displays an intermediate notice of any death of the detainee on the ICE website “within 48 hours” and orders that “all efforts should be made to publish the provisional opinion” earlier.

More recently, Ice published press releases confirming the death of a Mexican national August 31. The public declaration was published two days after his death. Another detainee died on September 8And the press release was published seven days later. Neither is on a civil servant Death Tracker owned by ice. Another man, owned by ICE, died Thursday in the county of Nassau, According to local reports.