“Do not breathe”: I am in the chaos of the ice detention center 911 calls

During the visits in recent months, Emily says her husband, who was reserving in Stewart until he was deported last month, described the overcrowding. “Tell me as soon as Trump took over, they were expelling the mats in the halls. People were sleeping there.”

Emily is a pseudonym granted to privacy. She says that the circumstances affected her husband, who lost her weight, has grown increasingly, and struggled to sleep amid noise and tension. He described having to wait a long time between meals. She says, when her husband fell to the influenza and rose in a high fever, she submitted multiple sick calls, but he never received care. “He had Covid-19 times,” she says. “The same. People will be sick and just leave to get worse.”

“You do not stand a chance in Stewart, it is the death penalty for you and your family,” Emily says.

When asked about the overcrowding in Stewart, Todd WIRED told, “Everyone is presented in our care as a bed.” But three lawyers visit the facility regularly that their customers have described continuous sleep on floors or in plastic containers equipped with thin strawberry. Three relatives of the current and former detainees confirmed these accounts.

Corecivic did not respond when asked how to determine the “bed”.

Jogging

The consequences of overcrowding extend beyond Stuart.

“We are witnessing a lot of transportation, sudden and futile,” says Jeff Migliozi, director of communications in non -profit freedom for immigrants, who runs the national migration hotline. “They are defending.” The hotline doubled more than 700 in December to 1600 in March. Maglius says, many lines are often very busy.

Data obtained from these detention facilities throughout the United States reflects the boom. Six of the ten facilities reviewed by WIRED witnessed a sharp rise from one month in 911 calls at some point in 2025, with emergency messengers more than three times in certain cases. For example, approximately 80 emergency calls were placed from the snow processing center in the remote South Texas between January and May. Records show that the number of calls is more than three times in March, when it rose from 10 in February to 31. In one week, the messengers made 11 separate calls in the facility, which is run by the geographical group, one of the largest prison operators for profit in the country.

Migliozzi warns that the height of 911 calls does not necessarily indicate the emergence of exacerbation – it can easily reflect more interested employees or the best emergency protocols. But the face must also be correct: decrease in calls may indicate unpaid medical problems or delay in care.

Three of the seven calls 911 that WIRED, which involves suicide attempts this year came from the South Texas Center: In February, a 36 -year -old man swallowed 20 pills without a prescription. In March, 37 -year -old was held for chemicals for cleaning. After two weeks, a 41 -year -old man was found to cut himself.

Anthony Enterakher, Vice President of the Call at Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights, says that the detention of immigration is not supposed to be punitive. He says: “But the conditions for imprisonment in detention are very brutal,” that people tried to commit suicide while waiting for their day in court. “