Ansari makes surprise visit to ICE prison, returns with horror stories

Editor's note: Originally published May 29, this story was updated June 2 to include a lengthy response from Immigration and Customs Enforcement.


On an overcast Thursday morning in south-central Arizona, Jose Camacho pulled his car over behind a stop sign, stepped out and lit a cigarette. If there was ever a time for a smoke, it was now.

Camacho had just left a Department of Homeland Security detention center in the rural Pinal County town of Eloy, where his wife of 21 years has been held for the last three months. She’d been scooped up by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and had vanished without a trace. Camacho had only learned where his wife was because she’d been able to mail him a letter, using paper, a stamp and an envelope that a deported detainee had left behind.

“This is my only shot,” the letter read.

Camacho’s wife, Velma Villabos, first came to the country from Mexico when she was two weeks old. Now 37, she’d spent her entire life in the U.S. In 2004, she married Camacho, who is a U.S. citizen. Together, they have four kids, ranging from 15 to 20 years old, all American citizens as well. She doesn’t even speak Spanish.

Yet, Villabos was still undocumented. Camacho had attempted to get her a green card years ago, but was dismayed by the immigration system and gave up. And now, with the Trump administration looking to get its hands on any immigrant it can find in order to fulfill the president’s promises of mass deportations, Villabos was sitting in an ICE facility.

Stories like Villabos’ prompted Democratic Rep. Yassamin Ansari to make a surprise visit to the detention facility Thursday afternoon. After a three-hour tour — during which reporters could not accompany her — the freshman congresswoman said she heard many more stories like Villabos’ that were “extremely alarming.”

“That should never be happening,” she said. “I will be focused on calling attention to this and looking at how we can push the administration to do better.”

Alarming stories

When ICE takes someone into custody in Arizona — perhaps in a neighborhood raid or after some legal shenanigans outside an immigration court — the Eloy Detention Center is often where they end up. The facility is owned and operated by the private prison group CoreCivic.

It’s doing big business these days. The Eloy facility has nearly reached capacity, with more than 1,500 detainees currently held there. The prison is also notorious. A 2019 report by Puente and the Advancement Project called it one of the deadliest ICE facilities in the country. So far this year, two detainees have died there.

“This is a detention center, largely for people who have not committed any crimes other than trying to come to the United States,” Ansari said. “But when you go inside, it is a prison. You are effectively in a prison.”

As a member of Congress, Ansari has a right to enter, “for the purpose of conducting oversight, any facility operated by or for the Department of Homeland Security used to detain or otherwise house aliens.” She exercised that right Thursday, receiving a tour that started a little before 11 a.m. and ended shortly after 2 p.m.

Ansari said an ICE official guided her throughout and took “as much time as needed to answer questions and give us a proper tour of the entire facility.” Ansari and her deputy director, Maria Lopez, were shown the center’s medical facilities, housing areas, library, recreation area and eventually the eating facilities.

But while the Phoenix Democrat said she was “grateful for the transparency that the staff showed me,” she said staffers’ responses were “very diplomatic” and detainees painted a bleak picture of the conditions at the facility.

Via Lopez, who speaks Spanish, Ansari was able to speak directly to detainees, who flocked to speak to her in the facility’s eating area. She said she spoke to about 15 women for roughly 45 minutes, and the stories they told were alarming.

“Since we were in the room, the atmosphere at lunch was much different than it usually is,” Ansari said the women told her. “Typically, they’re being yelled at, they’re being rushed, they’re being demeaned.”

Ansari said the women told her about a guard — they “pointed to this gentleman” in the lunchroom, Ansari said — who forced around 50 of the women to get up during their lunch and walk around the facility’s yard. This continued for more than two hours, in the heat and without water, as the guards yelled degrading remarks at the women. The women told Ansari that at least one detainee passed out from the heat, and one detainee told Ansari that a guard told the marching woman, "This is the price of the American dream."

“That was just a blatant attempt to embarrass these women, to harass them,” Ansari said. “There was no reason for it.”

Ansari was also told about a fire that occurred at the facility on May 5. The staff were “very ill-prepared to evacuate people,” she said, and she was told that an 80-year-old woman was trapped and pounded on a door trying to get out before fainting. Another detainee trying to help her was punished with 15 days of isolation, Ansari said.

“To me, this is sickening,” Ansari said. “It’s jaw-dropping.”

Ansari also heard stories of inadequate drinking water, dehumanizing behavior of guards toward detainees (including crass and racist language) and a lack of air conditioning. Lopez added that at other times, the air conditioning would be so cold that detainees could “feel their bones.” Detainees who wanted to report the abuse faced roadblocks — Ansari said accountability measures, such as an ombudsman and a phone system, were disabled.

Phoenix New Times emailed questions to ICE about the allegations but did not immediately receive a response.

Pushing for change

Since taking office in January, Ansari has been a persistent voice in Congress pushing back against the Trump administration’s immigration policies. She traveled to El Salvador in April in an (unsuccessful) attempt to meet with deported Maryland father Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was mistakenly sent to a terrorist prison in the country.

After Thursday’s visit, her office plans to articulate “the concerns from these women directly to the highest levels at ICE and to this administration,” she said. Given that the Trump administration hardly seems ashamed of its draconian approach to immigration, it’s anyone’s guess how effective that will be. But Ansari says she’ll keep raising a stink about it.

Any change Ansari could spur would help Camacho. He was also at the Eloy Detention Center on Thursday, though not as a guest of Ansari. He was there for his wife’s court date at the facility — it was the first time they’d seen each other since she was detained — and decided to wander over when he saw a group of reporters.

Ansari doesn’t think she spoke to Villabos, but she still had more access to Camacho’s spouse than he did. Though they locked eyes in the courtroom, they were not able to speak to each other. “If your family is in here, you might as well be in here too,” Camacho told reporters on the sidewalk outside of the facility.

Villabos’ next court date is in September. Unless something changes, it promises to be a harrowingly silent four months for Camacho. If the stories Ansari heard were indicative, it’ll be far worse for Villabos.

“It’s rigged against the people that are in there, it’s rigged against the families,” Camacho said. “It’s very rough, very difficult to have a person in this facility.”

ICE responds

Friday evening, ICE spokesperson Fernando X. Burgos Ortiz sent the following statement in response to Ansari's comments:

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement appreciates the opportunity for engagement during the recent unscheduled visit by the Congresswoman Yassamin Ansari on May 29, to the Eloy Detention Center.

ICE is surprised by the derogatory comments made by the congresswoman following her visit, especially since she expressed gratitude to staff for accommodating her and made no remarks during or after the visit indicating any concerns.

ICE emphatically denies the allegations regarding the treatment of detainees, including claims that women are being marched around outside in the heat causing (a) woman to “faint” or that they are not provided potable water or that the air conditioning is ever turned off as a form of retaliation. Further, the congresswoman relayed to media that 50 women filed complaints “about a month ago,” yet upon a thorough review of our records, no such complaints were actually filed. It’s easy to relay one side of the story but true journalism would reveal the facts.

ICE remains committed to providing comprehensive medical care to individuals in its custody, including medical, dental, and mental health intake screenings conducted within 12 hours of arrival, followed by a full health assessment within 14 days. The agency ensures access to medical appointments and 24-hour emergency care, with no detainee denied emergent care at any time.

On May 5, at 4:06 a.m., ICE evacuated officers, employees, and detainees from the Eloy Detention Center due to an electrical issue with a microwave. As a precaution, everyone was moved to the recreation yard for 30 minutes. After staff resolved the issue, all individuals returned to the unit by 4:36 a.m. During this evacuation, a detainee collapsed in the recreation yard and was transported to Banner Casa Grande Medical Center for further evaluation, May 5. She was discharged from hospital on May 7, and subsequently released from custody on May 10.

ICE takes all allegations of misconduct seriously and requires time to research specific details, including dates and names, to investigate claims effectively. It’s easy to allege misconduct by those working at the detention facility but when given the opportunity to provide specific details regarding the allegations, none were provided by those who are asking ICE to disprove the congresswoman’s unsubstantiated allegations.

Nationwide, detainees have access to the ICE Communication Services Free Call Platform, which connects them with pro bono legal service providers should they choose to use this service.

As a law enforcement agency, ICE expects all employees to uphold the highest standards of professional conduct. The agency encourages anyone with information regarding specific incidents to report it to the DHS Office of Inspector General at 800-323-8603 or the ICE Office of Professional Responsibility at 833-442-3677. Complaints regarding detention facilities can be reported to the Detention Reporting and Information Line at 888-351-4024, where trained operators are available to assist.

The reality is that these accusations do not reflect ICE's policies or practices. Detainees are treated humanely and while in detention are afforded recreation, medical care and nutritionist approved meals.