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Last week, the Department of Homeland Security鈥檚 internal watchdog agency released a damning that shed new light on dangerous conditions at La Palma Correctional Center, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center in Eloy, Arizona. The Office of Inspector General鈥檚 investigation confirmed the dangerous use of force, abuse, and lack of medical care at La Palma as COVID-19 swept through the facility and revealed troubling details about ICE鈥檚 mismanagement of detention during the pandemic.

In unusually strong language, the OIG concluded that conditions at La Palma 鈥渢hreatened the health, safety, and rights of detainees,鈥� and 鈥渃reated an environment of mistreatment and abuse.鈥� The OIG鈥檚 report confirms that the facility failed to provide basic protective equipment to detained people, did not require guards to wear masks, and 鈥渄id not enforce ICE鈥檚 COVID-19 precautions, including facial coverings and social distancing,鈥� noting that 鈥渢his failure may have contributed to the widespread COVID-19 outbreak at the facility.鈥� Notably, La Palma had one of the of any immigration detention facility in the country, with over eventually infected with the virus.

Most shocking is the OIG鈥檚 confirmation of abuse at La Palma. In April 2020, detained people at La Palma held peaceful protests to request protective equipment, such as masks and hand sanitizer, to protect themselves from the spread of COVID-19. However, in response, 鈥渟taff deployed chemical agents from the ceiling,鈥� deployed 鈥減epper spray from handheld devices,鈥� and launched pepper balls against detainees. Facility officials later punished detainees with lengthy stays in solitary confinement. As that we sent to ICE on behalf of detained protestors reported, one CoreCivic guard told the protestors: 鈥淚 am locking you down because it is my job. I don鈥檛 care who lives and who dies.鈥�

The OIG鈥檚 report also confirms that La Palma failed to meet baseline medical standards, leading to the 鈥渞isk [of] endangering the health and well-being of detainees entrusted to their care.鈥� Indeed, the OIG found that La Palma鈥檚 medical unit was 鈥渦nderstaffed, operating below requirements.鈥� These shortages created delays in critical care, refills for essential medications, and medical visits. The report also found failures regarding the grievance system and critical communication for detained people, including failure to provide people with deportation officer visits or call schedules. Most grievances reviewed received delayed responses or no response at all. Despite this, ICE has maintained that they have taken responsibility for the well-being of those detained in their custody.

Unfortunately, the abuses underlying the OIG鈥檚 report at La Palma are not uncommon. Instances of the use of force, including pepper spray, pepper balls, and spray grenades, have against immigrants in detention during the COVID-19 pandemic. The number of in ICE custody during 2020 was the highest it has been in 15 years.

La Palma became an ICE detention facility in 2019, as part of the Trump administration鈥檚 rapid expansion of the immigration detention system. After California鈥檚 criminal justice reforms eliminated its use of out-of-state prisons, CoreCivic set out in search of new people to fill its beds at La Palma. As the Government Accountability Office concluded in a recent , many of the new facilities opened during the Trump administration lacked justification for use, and were awarded contracts that provided unnecessary 鈥済uaranteed minimum bed鈥� provisions 鈥� payments for beds, even if not in use.

As the OIG鈥檚 report demonstrates, immigration detention facilities are plagued by dangerous conditions and abuse of detained people. The Biden administration can act quickly to terminate existing contracts for detention facilities, starting with facilities that have serious records of abuse, were opened without clear justification, or are in remote locations. There is no time to waste: It is time to put an end to ICE鈥檚 detention machine.