It’s a practice the United Nations has warned could amount to torture: Imagine being isolated in a small cell for 22 hours a day, without any meaningful human interaction, for days, weeks, or even months.
Despite then-candidate Biden’s assurances he’d end the practice, this remains the reality for thousands of immigrant detainees. In fact, under now-President Biden, the use of solitary confinement by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) hasn’t just continued — it's intensified.
A recent investigation found that the number of detainees with recorded mental health conditions placed in solitary confinement spiked from 35% to 56% last year.
Our ask is simple: The U.S. government should uphold human rights and lead with compassion. An estimated 3,000 immigrant detainees being held in isolation each year is a brutal reminder of how far we are from that vision.
President Biden responds to grassroots pressure on everything from climate change to student loans to recent, crucial shifts on Gaza. That’s why when tens of thousands of activists — people like you — pile on the pressure and urge him to end solitary confinement in immigration detention, we know he’ll listen.
The use of solitary confinement as a punishment or management tool in ICE detention centers is neither compassionate nor just. Will you add your name to speak out against it and call on President Biden to end the practice today?
