Several immigration detainees said they had been mistreated, neglected and denied due process – some unable to contact anyone for days on end during their abrupt transfers to prisons, then left in the dark about their ongoing deportation cases.

Some detainees described shortages of food, clothes, toilet paper and other necessities. Others alleged they were forced to live in dirty, overcrowded cells and unable to access basic medical care and regular outdoor time.

In addition to FCI Atlanta, Ice has sent immigration detainees to BoP facilities in Miami; Philadelphia; Berlin, New Hampshire; and Leavenworth, Kansas, according to BoP.

The BoP system, which houses federal criminal defendants, has long been plagued by reports of systemic abuse by officers, preventable deaths and crumbling infrastructure at facilities across the country. In recent years, former staffers at the Berlin and Philadelphia prisons were convicted of bribery and contraband. A Miami officer was charged with sexually abusing an incarcerated person. Atlanta staff were accused of covering up abuses and severe neglect. And Kansas staff allegedly have left residents without adequate food and water during lockdowns and forced them to defecate in bags.