Amnesty International called Thursday for ICE’s abolition, citing alleged abuses including fatal shootings and detainees denied lawyers. Its 168-page report says up to 100 people were held for up to two weeks in cells meant for 12; some conditions may amount to torture.
Amnesty said its researchers interviewed 154 people affected by enforcement operations and reviewed dozens of videos. The report says ICE used facial recognition to identify immigrants and protesters, then used information to locate protesters’ homes in an effort to intimidate them. Interviewees also reported drones following protesters or immigrant families, but the report said links to ICE were unclear.
White House spokesperson Lauren Bis called the report “smears” and argued that the policies would make Americans less safe. Syracuse University researchers said in July that more than 70% of ICE detainees had no criminal conviction; about 65,700 people were in detention nationwide at the time.
