WATCH: Padilla Exposes Cruel Conditions at ICE Detention Facilities

WATCH : Padilla: “No matter what our policy differences or disagreements may be, we must remember and respect the fact that every single person in detention is a human being” WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Immigration Subcommittee, joined Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and their Democratic colleagues in a spotlight forum to sound the alarm on the overcrowding, inadequate medical care, and the 53 deaths under the second Trump Administration in immigration detention facilities. In his remarks, Padilla underscored the need for oversight and accountability for the Trump Administration’s cruel anti-immigrant agenda, reflected in the conditions of detention centers across the country. Padilla specifically highlighted the unacceptable conditions in ICE detention centers in California, including inadequate access to medical care and clean drinking water, and overcrowding, that have been the center of lawsuits demanding improvements. The Spotlight Forum included testimonies from Michelle Brané, former Ombudsman of the Office of the Immigration and Detention at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Michele Heisler, Medical Director at Physicians for Human Rights, Jennifer Babaie, Associate Director of the National Immigrant Justice Center’s Adult Detention Project, and Ricardo Hernandez-Navarrete, a student who spoke about his experience in ICE detention. Padilla questioned Brané and Heisler about oversight of detention facilities and the lack of proper medical care for detainees. Padilla concluded his remarks by calling for independent, credible investigations into the Trump Administration’s mismanagement of ICE detention facilities. Key Excerpts: PADILLA: We’re reminded by the findings of a court-appointed monitor that the California City Detention Center has failed to comply with a judge’s order to provide adequate healthcare. So these aren’t just our accusations. These are court findings and court orders we’re discussing here. PADILLA: Another is a ruling from District Court Judge Sykes earlier this month requiring federal immigration officials to provide clean drinking water and adequate medical care for those held at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center. We’re talking about basic, fundamental human rights. PADILLA: Their lives have meaning and value, and they retain the fundamental human right, even in custody, as the law clearly says, they deserve access to basic things like food, drinking water, and lifesaving medical care. PADILLA: As awful as this Administration’s anti-immigrant mass detention and deportation agenda is, it still has a legal responsibility to ensure the people in detention are treated humanely. BRANÉ: We spoke to detainees, visited the medical center, and reviewed staffing records. I will say that staffing is a critical piece that is consistently not complied with. When facilities are understaffed, the people in those facilities are not safe. They don’t get recreation, they don’t get the medical care they need, and they don’t get proper and appropriate food. HEISLER: In our research, we did find that the highest rates of death were in the most overcrowded facilities. It is not the largest detention facilities that have the highest rates. In fact, it’s the ones that have had a really rapid increase in population. PADILLA: Once upon a time, we had a true Department of Justice and a Civil Rights Division that we could sometimes turn to as an alternative. That no longer carries any credibility. So finding other mechanisms for credible, independent investigations is essential. Video of Padilla’s opening remarks and questioning is available here . ###