According to a new report issued by Physicians for Human Rights, Harvard Law School, and Harvard Medical School, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) employed solitary confinement over 14,000 times from 2018 to 2023 with an average isolation time of 27 days. This far exceeds the 15-day guideline that the United Nations considers to be torture.
The report was co-authored by Edmond & Lily Safra Center fellow, Katherine Peeler, who is also a medical expert with Physicians for Human Rights and assistant professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School. According to Peeler, “ICE’s solitary confinement practices inflict unacceptable and, in some cases, lifelong physical and mental health consequences. Many people seeking asylum and other immigrants come to the United States seeking safety only to be forced into a claustrophobic cell for weeks, months, or even years. “ICE must end its use of solitary confinement.”