WASHINGTON – Many gay, lesbian and transgender immigrants held in U.S. detention centers, who are especially vulnerable to abuse by guards and other detainees, are placed in solitary confinement to protect them, but the isolation can cause irreversible psychological problems, a new report found.
“Solitary confinement is considered a form of torture,” said Sharita Gruberg, policy analyst at the left-leaning Center for American Progress, which released a report Monday addressing lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender immigrant abuses in U.S. detention facilities. “When [U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement] does this to prevent people from being sexually assaulted, it puts them at risk of other forms of trauma – of isolation and all the psychological trauma that occurs in prolonged isolation.”
Some LGBT immigrants also face physical, sexual and verbal abuse from detention facility guards while in solitary, which defeats the purpose of isolating vulnerable populations, said Gruberg, author of the report.
The Center for American Progress report found about 200 reports of sexual, mental and physical abuse involving LGBT detainees by guards and other immigrants at all federal facilities from 2008 to 2013. The reports were obtained through Freedom of Information Act requests to the Department of Homeland Security. Because the requests only involved reported abuse incidents that mentioned immigrants’ sexual orientation, the Center estimated that these complaints represent a fraction of all abuses against LGBT detainees.
From October 2009 to March of this year, the Government Accountability Office, a nonpartisan congressional investigative agency, also found about 200 allegations of sexual abuse and assault of all immigrants in detention facilities, according to a recent GAO report. However, the Office was not able to locate all abuse allegations.
Krypcia Campbell, a transgender asylum seeker from El Salvador, was held in solitary confinement for about eight months while awaiting trial, said Jessica Jeanty, policy counsel at the National Center for Transgender Equality, who has worked with Campbell as part of an initiative to share immigrants’ stories.
Campbell suffered such depression and distress that she eventually signed a voluntary order to be deported back to El Salvador, Jeanty said. However, an immigration judge refused the voluntary deportation, Jeanty said, and Campbell now resides in the Washington, D.C. area legally.
“It was so traumatic and emotionally draining that she [Campbell] would have rather been deported to El Salvador, where she had not been for several years, at least 10 years, than to stay in immigration solitary confinement indefinitely,” Jeanty said.
Jeanty said her center believes detention facilities cannot house transgender people safely.
“For transgender people, because the facilities can’t figure out an appropriate way to house them with their appropriate gender, they are often placed in solitary confinement as another option, which should really be a last resort,” Jeanty said.
In 2011, the average daily population of U.S. detention centers was about 33,000, which was an increase from the nearly 28,000 in 2007, according to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Nationwide, the agency houses detainees in more than 250 state and local facilities.
About 1 percent of detainees are held in solitary confinement, according to the agency.
When detainees are held in solitary confinement for more than 15 days, experts say, they could face irreversible psychological problems, including hallucinations, panic attacks and paranoia.
“Generally, they all describe a sense of terror, disorientation regarding the passage of time, feelings of despair and hopelessness,” said Dr. Lynne Gaby, a psychiatrist in Washington who has worked with clients held in solitary confinement in their home countries. “There is a loss of sense of self—this is likely due to the loss of connection to others, which is how we maintain our sense of ourselves and reality.”
Many LGBT detainees lack family and legal support, which creates more of a traumatic experience, Jeanty said.
“Unlike in criminal court, in immigration court, there is no right to appointed counsel,” said Heidi Altman, legal director for the Capital Area Immigrants’ Rights Coalition, an organization that provides legal counsel and assistance to detained immigrants. “We see this as an injustice for all immigrants who are in detention. The need for representation is overwhelming. It vastly outstrips the amount of attorneys able to provide services free of cost.”
As a matter of policy, placing vulnerable individuals, including the disabled, the elderly, pregnant women and those who may be victimized because of their sexual orientation, in solitary confinement is a last resort, according to ICE.
When an individual is held in non-disciplinary solitary confinement, the agency reviews the case to ensure the detainee is appropriately placed. If the agency finds an individual was inappropriately placed in solitary confinement, the detainee will be placed in “less restrictive options,” according to the agency.
“Overall, ICE is committed to providing a safe and humane environment that is attentive to the unique needs of the individuals in our custody,” said ICE spokeswoman Gillian Christensen. “Since 2009, ICE has been engaged in a long-term detention reform effort in order to prioritize the health and safety of detainees in our custody while increasing federal oversight and improving the conditions of confinement within the detention system.”
Experts suggest alternative ways of monitoring LGBT and other vulnerable immigrant detainees, including electronic ankle bracelets and supervised release programs.
“ICE has taken numerous steps to try to protect vulnerable populations,” Gruberg said. “It hasn’t worked. This is an inherently dangerous situation for LGBT immigrants. If they’re not a threat to their community, if they’re not a flight risk, they really should be placed in alternatives to detention.”
Ira Mehlman, spokesman of the Federation for American Immigration Reform, a national organization that seeks to improve border security and stop illegal immigration, said immigration reform policies should be examined from the perspective of the American people more so than from that of immigrants.
“If there are problems that are legitimate [with detention conditions], they should be corrected,” Mehlman said. “It’s perfectly legitimate that people are put in detention while they go through the [immigration judicial] process. The government has an interest in making sure that once the final orders are handed down, they can be executed – the orders, not the people.”
However, Gruberg of the Center for American Progress said abuse of immigrants in detention facilities, whether LGBT or heterosexual, should be addressed as part of immigration reform.
“While … each of them may not be quite as vulnerable as LGBT people, they’re still vulnerable to abuse,” she said.
Jessica Jeanty, policy counsel at the National Center for Transgender Equality, shares a story of a transgender asylum seeker, Krypcia Campbell, who was held in solitary confinement for eight months at a U.S. immigration detention facility.