Takeaways from AP-KFF investigation into allegations of medical neglect by detainees in ICE custody [View all]

Source: Associated Press and KFF Health News

Takeaways from AP-KFF investigation into allegations of medical neglect by detainees in ICE custody

By RAE ELLEN BICHELL, CLAIRE GALOFARO, MAIA ROSENFELD, RENUKA RAYASAM, AARON KESSLER, BYRON TAU, ASSOCIATED PRESS and KFF Health News
Updated 9:57 AM EDT, June 2, 2026
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An investigation by KFF Health News and The Associated Press has found that hundreds of detainees across at least 33 states allege immigration detention facilities are failing to provide adequate medical care.

Detainees allege they didn’t receive medications on time — or at all — for conditions including high blood pressure, diabetes, depression, epilepsy, Parkinson’s and HIV. Requests for help went unanswered for weeks. Blood sugars rose. Infections festered. Cancers remained untreated. Detainees collapsed and had seizures.

U.S. jails and immigration detention centers have long struggled to meet the medical needs of the people in their charge. But the system is sagging under an influx of detentions since President Donald Trump returned to office: More than 75,000 immigrants were being detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement as of mid-January, up from around 40,000 a year earlier.

KFF Health News and AP asked the Department of Homeland Security to respond to the findings six days before publication but it did not provide comment. DHS acting chief medical officer, Sean Conley, previously said “it is both policy and longstanding practice for aliens to receive timely and appropriate medical care from the moment they enter ICE custody” and that the department recruits healthcare professionals to maintain high standards. “This is better, more responsive healthcare than many aliens have ever received in their entire lives,” he has said.

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Read more: https://apnews.com/article/ice-detention-medical-neglect-takeaways-f3c6d9d0ac3332dca0419e543db6e955