Amnesty International has concluded that the US agency Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) must be abolished, citing a "chilling pattern" of human rights violations across the United States. The organisation states that its latest findings show abuses under the Trump administration have reached a "new and dangerous scale."
The human rights group documented federal agents allegedly racially profiling and arbitrarily detaining individuals based on perceived race during immigration enforcement operations in Chicago, Minneapolis-St Paul, New Orleans, and Washington DC. Agents reportedly targeted workplaces and neighbourhoods associated with Black and brown immigrant communities.
Amnesty International also documented alleged abuses inside detention facilities, including prolonged periods in overcrowded and unsanitary conditions with minimal food and restricted access to healthcare and lawyers. The organisation concluded that these conditions constitute cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment and, in some circumstances, may amount to torture. Unlawful incommunicado detention and possible acts of enforced disappearance were also documented.
The organisation states that the consistency of these violations across different cities, communities, operations, and agents indicates a pattern embedded within the institution for decades. Amnesty International argues that no amount of defunding, training, or disciplinary measures will be sufficient, and that abolition is the only path to justice.