DHS watchdog finds use-of-force issues, and safety and sanitation concerns at Louisiana ICE center

A Department of Homeland Security watchdog report revealed that staff at an ICE detention center in Louisiana used a prohibited chokehold to “gain control” of one person being held there and stabbed another in the hand with a pen when an officer could not close the door to a housing unit.

The newly released findings about Winn Correctional Center in central Louisiana follow the DHS Inspector General’s review of video of the use-of-force incidents as part of an unannounced facility inspection. The report, which was published on the DHS website, also noted that the officer who stabbed the detainee with a pen was disciplined.

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Staff failed to maintain safe and sanitary conditions, the report states, noting leaking vents and ceilings with insulation falling through. Facility staff used napkins and Styrofoam containers to collect the water from the leaks, according to the report.

The report comes as scrutiny grows about conditions inside ICE detention centers that house more than 60,000 detainees.

Earlier Wednesday, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin defended his agency’s detention standards on Capitol Hill amid complaints about ICE’s Delaney Hall detention facility in Newark, New Jersey. That center has been the site of frequent protests.

Rep. Tim Kennedy, a Democrat from New York, accused Mullin of leaving detainees without food or medical care.

Mullin rejected the claims. “You can say all you want, but don’t accuse me of something that’s not accurate,” the secretary said.

The IG made nine recommendations ranging from environmental health and safety standards, proper handling of use of force incidents and maintaining food service standards.

ICE is working to address all these issues, including by providing additional staff training, a spokesperson for the agency said.

“These minor infractions included failing to provide detainees exercise equipment, record keeping errors and leaking vents. Another infraction included providing a shared computer for legal research that would allow other detainees to see other detainees’ case information,” the spokesperson said.

A spokesperson for DHS said the report shows that the facility complies with detention standards.

“ICE has higher detention standards than most U.S. prisons that hold actual U.S. citizens,” the spokesperson said.

Winn Correctional is one of the largest ICE detention centers in the country, housing more than 1,500 men. The facility opened in 1990, and ICE took it over from the state in 2019.

The report was produced after an unannounced inspection by the DHS watchdog, whose office recently got a new infusion of $20 million and plans to boost its inspections from four to six per year to potentially as many as 40 to 60.

Of the 1,500 detainees at Winn, 70% are listed by ICE as having “No ICE threat level” meaning they do not have a violent criminal history.

Winn is an hour north of Alexandria, Louisiana, which is one of four hubs for ICE deportation flights around the country.

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