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Doug MacMillan

@douglasmac.bsky.social
1.2K followers 227 following 49 posts

biz + tech investigations @washingtonpost douglas.macmillan@washpost.com www.washingtonpost.com/people/dougl…

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Reposted by Doug MacMillan
Drew Harwell @drewharwell.com · 24/09/2026
Our Flock reporting just got five cops arrested. The Indianapolis officers were just criminally charged for spying on women. @aaronschaffer.com, @douglasmac.bsky.social and I found suspicious searches and got their agency to investigate. How many bad cops are still getting away? wapo.st/4xDOH3d
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Drew Harwell @drewharwell.com · 19/08/2026
We unmasked the cops who misused Flock to spy on their spouses. Their police departments weren't checking their searches, so we did it for them. One just got arrested. Here's how we did it. Gift link: wapo.st/4xSDfS4 witth all stars @douglasmac.bsky.social @aaronschaffer.com
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Drew Harwell @drewharwell.com · 13/08/2026
In our story on the cops who stalk women with license-plate readers, we said Flock could make two simple changes to reduce abuse: Require case numbers for every search and proactively scan for suspicious behavior. Now, the company is adopting both wapo.st/3UgJLmZ
wapo.st
Flock unveils changes after Post report on police misuse of its network
The license-plate-reader firm said it will require stricter oversight after a Washington Post investigation found dozens of officers had misused its cameras to spy on their exes and romantic interests...
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Reposted by Doug MacMillan
Longreads @longreads.com · 03/08/2026
"He had searched her car hundreds of times over a span of about 13 months, sometimes dozens of times a week, the audit records showed." @drewharwell.com, @douglasmac.bsky.social, and @aaronschaffer.com for @washingtonpost.com
washingtonpost.com
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Reposted by Doug MacMillan
David Ho @davidho.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
Yikes, this story by @drewharwell.com, @douglasmac.bsky.social, and @aaronschaffer.com about police officers using Flock's license-plate readers to stalk women.
washingtonpost.com
How rogue officers turned a nationwide camera network into a tool for stalking
Flock’s array of license-plate cameras was built to fight crime. But at least 50 law enforcement officers were charged with or accused of misusing it and other systems.
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Reposted by Doug MacMillan
Austin Kocher, PhD @austinkocher.com · 22/07/2026
New reporting by Doug MacMillan and colleagues at The Washington Post shows ICE packed roughly 86 people into one Manhattan room built for a handful. 🧵 www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/...
washingtonpost.com
https://www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/interactive/2026/07/22/ice-officials-warned-dangerous-crowding-see-how-they-kept-packing-people/
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Reposted by Doug MacMillan
Eunice Cho @eunicehcho.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
Powerful visualization of horrifying conditions of confinement in ICE's holding room cells, based on testimony of brave detainees who came forward to sue ICE and challenge abuses at 26 Federal Plaza. Great reporting by @douglasmac.bsky.social as usual! wapo.st/3R6bdmr
wapo.st
ICE officials warned of dangerous crowding. See how they kept packing people in.
Dozens were held for days in small rooms last year with no beds, showers or full-time medical staff, records analyzed by The Post show.
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Doug MacMillan @douglasmac.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
DHS Inspector General is hiring a contractor to inspect ICE detention facilities, noting that recent expansion "has stressed the system" leading to overcrowding, more detainee deaths and hiring of contractors "with little-to-no experience" sam.gov/workspace/co... h/t @aaronschaffer.com
sam.gov
Sam Acquisition 360
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Doug MacMillan @douglasmac.bsky.social · 11/07/2026
ICE detainees pay up to 2X what they would pay at Walmart for the same product
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Rosanna Landis Weaver @landisweaver.bsky.social · 17/06/2026
Geo Groups CEO's compensation went up considerably this year because the company is performing so well. A significant number of shareholders voted against the compensation package at the company
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Doug MacMillan @douglasmac.bsky.social · 17/06/2026
ICE's largest contractor privately asked the Trump administration to remove protections for immigrant detainees who work for as little as $1 a day. In ICE's new national detention standards, they got their wish. Gift link to story: wapo.st/4giIJjm
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Eunice Cho @eunicehcho.bsky.social · 16/06/2026
Great reporting by @douglasmac.bsky.social. GEO's push to change ICE standards is a direct response to successful lawsuits brought by immigrant detainees finding minimum wage violations and unjust enrichment for their $1/day "voluntary" work program. The swamp just got deeper. wapo.st/4giIJjm
wapo.st
ICE removed detainee protections after private outreach from top contractor
In new federal standards released Monday, the agency appeared to make changes that could benefit Geo Group’s legal defense.
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Doug MacMillan @douglasmac.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
We still don't know if there's any surveillance video of the January death of ICE detainee Geraldo Lunas Campos, which the coroner ruled a homicide. But GAO looked into it and found that evidence was "missing or destroyed" www.gao.gov/assets/gao-2...
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Doug MacMillan @douglasmac.bsky.social · 08/06/2026
ICE is seeking to avoid accountability for the people who die from medical problems shortly after they are released from custody. Happy to speak about this on @msnowreports.bsky.social Gift link to my story here: wapo.st/4ukSrVE
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Doug MacMillan @douglasmac.bsky.social · 04/06/2026
Guard at ICE detention center in Louisiana stabbed detainee with a pen because he wouldn't remove his hand from a door, per new DHS OIG report: www.oig.dhs.gov/sites/defaul...
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Reposted by Doug MacMillan
Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 14/05/2026
ICE is moving forward with its plans to convert commercial warehouses into mass detention camps which may become the largest prisons in the entire country. Initially, ICE planned to open the first one by now. That never happened. Now they’re targeting early next year.
Nonetheless, internal discussions indicate DHS is still planning to utilize warehouses as detention sites. ICE will conduct environmental assessments at both of the newly planned Texas facilities, according to one of the people briefed on the agency's plans. The administration plans to have both sites operating by early 2027.
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Doug MacMillan @douglasmac.bsky.social · 15/05/2026
ICE warehouse plan is back ON, with two Texas facilities expected to open by early 2027. New @washingtonpost.com: wapo.st/4uUqvsF
wapo.st
ICE moving forward with warehouse detention plan despite lawsuits, probe
New warehouse contracts in Texas are expected to be awarded after Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin initially called for a review of the plan.
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Reposted by Doug MacMillan
Andrew Ba Tran @abtran.bsky.social · 04/05/2026
We got our hands on internal ICE records that show how widespread use of force, like punches, kicks, takedown maneuvers, restraint holds, and less-lethal weapons such as Tasers and pepper spray in detention centers has grown wapo.st/4tdgBRA (1/)
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Doug MacMillan @douglasmac.bsky.social · 04/05/2026
We obtained a trove of internal ICE records showing detention center guards have increasingly used physical force and chemical agents on detainees. Gift link: wapo.st/4tdgBRA story w/ @abtran.bsky.social & team
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Reposted by Doug MacMillan
Adam Sawyer @adamjst.bsky.social · 04/05/2026
"The incident was one of at least 780 in which staff members at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facilities used physical force or chemical agents to control immigrant detainees during the first year of the Trump administration." Gift link: wapo.st/4tdgBRA
wapo.st
Internal ICE records reveal widespread use of force in detention centers
The reports detail how guards have increasingly used chemical agents and physical tactics on detainees, including groups demanding adequate water, food and medical care.
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Doug MacMillan @douglasmac.bsky.social · 11/03/2026
Update: ICE has switched contractors at Camp East Montana and said the facility will stay open: wapo.st/415gawR I corrected my earlier story, which incorrectly said a document showed ICE was taking steps to close CEM. Actually, the document only said ICE planned to terminate contract.
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Doug MacMillan @douglasmac.bsky.social · 11/03/2026
They reincorporated in Tennessee shortly later (h/t @aaronschaffer.com)
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Doug MacMillan @douglasmac.bsky.social · 10/03/2026
A great honor to join @wbur.org's On Point with Meghna Chakrabarti yesterday to talk about who profits from ICE detention, alongside the astute @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social. Catch the whole conversation here: www.wbur.org/onpoint/2026...
wbur.org
Who will profit off of ICE’s new detention warehouses?
The Trump administration has a $38 billion plan to convert commercial warehouses into massive detention centers for people facing deportation. Inside the Trump administration's massive expansion of de...
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Reposted by Doug MacMillan
The Washington Post @washingtonpost.com · 09/03/2026
As the Trump administration embarks on a $38 billion plan to convert industrial warehouses into large-scale holding centers, it is turning to relatively untested businesses to rapidly build and operate the facilities.
washingtonpost.com
ICE selects untested firms to oversee new warehouse detention centers
The Trump administration has picked new companies to oversee warehouse detention centers, despite their relative lack of experience in immigrant detention.
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Reposted by Doug MacMillan
Drew Harwell @drewharwell.com · 07/03/2026
Local Republicans are getting slammed so hard on ICE warehouse plans that DHS is having to feed them talking points @douglasmac.bsky.social www.washingtonpost.com/investigatio...
washingtonpost.com
DHS feeds talking points to Republicans as opposition to ICE warehouses swells
DHS sent talking points to Republican officials to promote migrant detention centers while communities complained about a lack of transparency.
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Doug MacMillan @douglasmac.bsky.social · 04/03/2026
Camp East Montana was supposed to be the Trump administration's model for a new breed of large-scale, makeshift immigrant detention centers. Eight tumultuous months, 60 violations and three deaths later, ICE is preparing to close it. New from me: t.co/jOIIRAMJCo
washingtonpost.com
ICE taking steps to close detention center at Fort Bliss, document shows
Preparations to shutter Camp East Montana in El Paso come less than eight months after facility’s opening, according to an internal ICE document.
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DougAAdams @dougaadams.bsky.social · 28/02/2026
ICE has been buying warehouses around the US, with plans to turn them into a network of processing & detention centers to hold migrants. Our @pbsnews.org segment with @elizlanders.bsky.social @kylemidura.bsky.social and conversation with @douglasmac.bsky.social www.pbs.org/newshour/sho...
pbs.org
ICE spending billions to turn warehouses into migrant detention facilities
For months, ICE has been quietly buying industrial warehouses around the country, reportedly with plans to turn them into a network of immigration detention and processing centers to hold tens of thou...
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Maria Sacchetti - reporter - The Washington Post @mariasacchetti.bsky.social · 06/02/2026
Thank you to all for the kind notes. This week has been shattering. Somehow I’m still here. I’ll do my best for as long as I can. Here’s how to help the ones we lost: Hire them. They’re brilliant. Donate: US www.gofundme.com/f/standing-t... International www.gofundme.com/f/support-fo...
gofundme.com
Donate to Washington Post 2026 layoff fund, organized by Rachel Siegel
On Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026, The Washington Post laid off hundreds of journalists. We ar… Rachel Siegel needs your support for Washington Post 2026 layoff fund
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Doug MacMillan @douglasmac.bsky.social · 05/02/2026
Hundreds of journalists lost their jobs today for reasons I cannot comprehend. They include some of the best reporters, editors, photographers in the world and I am extremely grateful to have worked with them. Here’s one way to help them out in this difficult time www.gofundme.com/f/standing-t...
gofundme.com
Donate to Washington Post 2026 layoff fund, organized by Rachel Siegel
On Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026, The Washington Post laid off hundreds of journalists. We ar… Rachel Siegel needs your support for Washington Post 2026 layoff fund
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Doug MacMillan @douglasmac.bsky.social · 31/01/2026
ICE just bought warehouses for mega-detention centers in MD & AZ and is nearing deals in GA, MO, NY, NJ, FL. Residents and local officials are pushing back, and scored wins this week in VA & OK. But it’s not clear this plan can be stopped. w/ Jonathan O'Connell. Gift link: wapo.st/49ZKA7W
wapo.st
ICE buys warehouses for mass detention network, rattling locals
ICE officials have quietly begun notifying warehouse owners and local officials of their interest in specific properties, prompting efforts to block the projects.
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Doug MacMillan @douglasmac.bsky.social · 17/01/2026
This week, a man in ICE custody bravely went on the record telling me he witnessed guards choking another detainee to death -- an account supported by medical examiner findings. Now, DHS is trying to deport him and another one of my sources. Gift link: wapo.st/4qR1T1U
t.co
https://wapo.st/4qR1T1U
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Doug MacMillan @douglasmac.bsky.social · 16/01/2026
Geraldo Lunas Campos died Jan. 3 after a struggle with ICE detention center staff. The medical examiner believes it's homicide. ICE is now saying he tried to kill himself. But an eyewitness claims Lunas Campos was handcuffed while guards choked him to death. Gift link: wapo.st/49FW4NG
wapo.st
Medical examiner believes death of man in ICE custody was homicide, recording says
A fellow detainee says he witnessed Geraldo Lunas Campos being choked to death by guards at the ICE detention center in Texas on Jan. 3.
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Reposted by Doug MacMillan
Maria Sacchetti - reporter - The Washington Post @mariasacchetti.bsky.social · 15/01/2026
SCOOP from Douglas Macmillan Medical examiner believes death of man in ICE custody was homicide, recording says www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/...
washingtonpost.com
Medical examiner believes death of man in ICE custody was homicide, recording says
A fellow detainee says he witnessed Geraldo Lunas Campos being choked to death by guards at the ICE detention center in Texas on Jan. 3.
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Reposted by Doug MacMillan
The Washington Post @washingtonpost.com · 15/01/2026
Breaking news: An employee of El Paso County’s Office of the Medical Examiner said it is likely to classify the death of Geraldo Lunas Campos at an ICE detention center as a homicide. A detainee says he witnessed Campos being choked to death by guards.
washingtonpost.com
Medical examiner believes death of man in ICE custody was homicide, recording says
A fellow detainee says he witnessed Geraldo Lunas Campos being choked to death by guards at the ICE detention center in Texas on Jan. 3.
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Doug MacMillan @douglasmac.bsky.social · 09/01/2026
“I’m supportive of the president, but I don’t particularly want this." My visit with a small town in Georgia that's gearing up to fight the Trump administration on a plan to convert a warehouse into an ICE detention center with capacity for 9k immigrant detainees. Gift link--> wapo.st/4qhiZGi
wapo.st
Georgia town of 5,000 vows to fight ICE plan to warehouse 9,000 detainees
Some small cities and towns say they don’t have the sewer systems or other infrastructure needed to absorb thousands of detainees.
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Reposted by Doug MacMillan
Drew Harwell @drewharwell.com · 24/12/2025
ICE wants to hold 80,000 people in warehouses. ICE's acting director in April: "We need to get better at treating this like a business ... Like Prime, but with human beings." www.washingtonpost.com/business/202... @douglasmac.bsky.social
Map of warehouses
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Doug MacMillan @douglasmac.bsky.social · 16/09/2025
This month, ICE inspectors toured the giant new Fort Bliss tent camp for migrants, built in under two months. They found 60 violations of federal detention standards, many of which directly impacted the safety of workers and detainees, we reported today in @washingtonpost.com 🧵-->
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Doug MacMillan @douglasmac.bsky.social · 16/08/2025
ICE is sprinting to 100k immigrant detention beds this year, and we got the internal road map. It includes: ✅ More large-scale facilities ✅ More soft-sided tent cities ✅ Record number of family detention beds Details in story @washingtonpost.com wapo.st/45hE9fq 🧵 Threading highlights ->
wapo.st
ICE documents reveal plan to double immigrant detention space this year
Internal documents reveal ICE’s plans to double immigrant detention to more than 100,000 beds, including new detention centers for families.
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Reposted by Doug MacMillan
Meghan Hoyer @meghanhoyer.bsky.social · 15/08/2025
We got ICE documents revealing their initial plans to expand detention centers across the US. From @douglasmac.bsky.social, N Kirkpatrick & the data team's Lydia Sidhom: www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/...
washingtonpost.com
ICE documents reveal plan to double immigrant detention space this year
Internal documents reveal ICE’s plans to double immigrant detention to more than 100,000 beds, including new detention centers for families.
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Doug MacMillan @douglasmac.bsky.social · 02/08/2025
My latest on ICE’s business ties: One of the key figures overseeing ICE’s unprecedented detention surge worked the last 12 years as an executive and consultant for private prison firm Geo Group and got an ethics waiver to work on Geo matters. www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...
washingtonpost.com
The former private prison exec behind ICE’s immigrant detention surge
David Venturella, a veteran of private prison firm Geo Group, joined the Trump administration to help oversee an expansion of the immigrant detention system that’s benefiting his former employer.
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Doug MacMillan @douglasmac.bsky.social · 26/07/2025
The more I dig into the unfolding immigration crackdown at ICE, the more I find evidence of a business motive at play. My latest story details a new policy to sharply expand the number of immigrants on GPS ankle monitors -- and make $$$ for a Florida private prison conglomerate. wapo.st/3TY4bOf
wapo.st
ICE moves to shackle some 180,000 immigrants with GPS ankle monitors
A June 9 memo directed ICE field officers to significantly expand the number of immigrants under round-the-clock surveillance.
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Kashmir Hill @kashhill.bsky.social · 11/07/2025
Florida man arrested for child predation based on a bad facial recognition match: "This is f***ing nuts" As has been the case in other wrongful arrests, police showed facial recognition search results to eyewitnesses. This is a terrible practice, should be banned. www.youtube.com/watch?v=He8-...
youtube.com
Wrong Guy: Florida suspect misidentified by AI facial recognition technology, arrested
YouTube video by Action News Jax (CBS47 & FOX30)
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Doug MacMillan @douglasmac.bsky.social · 04/07/2025
Congress allocated $45 billion to spend locking up immigrants over the next four years — more than the government spent on ICE detention during the Obama, Biden and first Trump administrations combined. Story: www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...
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Doug MacMillan @douglasmac.bsky.social · 04/07/2025
Congress allocated $45 billion to spend locking up immigrants over the next four years — more than the government spent on ICE detention during the Obama, Biden and first Trump administrations combined. Story: www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...
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Doug MacMillan @douglasmac.bsky.social · 12/06/2025
My reporting showed New Orleans police were likely violating a local ordinance by running a live facial recognition surveillance program. The city's response: Legalize this technology. www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...
washingtonpost.com
New Orleans pushes to legalize police use of ‘facial surveillance’
The city would become first in the United States to formally allow facial recognition as a tool for surveilling residents in real time.
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Drew Harwell @drewharwell.com · 27/05/2025
Border czar Tom Homan, captain of the "zero tolerance" policy that split migrant parents from their kids, was paid money by the private-prison company that profits off detaining immigrants. Drain the swamp www.washingtonpost.com/business/202... @douglasmac.bsky.social @aaronschaffer.com
washingtonpost.com
Trump’s border czar earned consulting fees from immigrant detention firm
Tom Homan, a top ICE official, earned an undisclosed amount from a division of the GEO Group, one of two companies that operates the majority of the nation’s immigrant detention facilities.
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Kashmir Hill @kashhill.bsky.social · 19/05/2025
One of the hard lines on facial recognition technology in the U.S. has been using it to do live searches on real-time cameras. The Washington Post reports that's been happening in New Orleans, however, by a police-adjacent nonprofit called PROJECT NOLA. www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...
washingtonpost.com
Police secretly monitored New Orleans with facial recognition cameras
Following records requests from The Post, officials paused the first known, widespread live facial recognition program used by police in the United States.
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Drew Harwell @drewharwell.com · 19/05/2025
New Orleans police used secret network of 200 facial recognition cameras to scan people on public streets and ping nearby cops. The "technology nightmare scenario that we have been worried about" www.washingtonpost.com/business/202... @douglasmac.bsky.social @aaronschaffer.com
washingtonpost.com
Police secretly monitored New Orleans with facial recognition cameras
Following records requests from The Post, officials paused the first known, widespread live facial recognition program used by police in the United States.
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Drew Harwell @drewharwell.com · 20/04/2025
Immigrants are being forced to sleep on floors at overwhelmed ICE detention centers: “You’re stripped from your humanity" www.washingtonpost.com/business/202... @douglasmac.bsky.social
washingtonpost.com
Immigrants forced to sleep on floors at overwhelmed ICE detention centers
Some immigrant detention centers across the country are over capacity. The administration has asked for emergency contracts to add more facilities.
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