Letter follows Ansari’s surprise oversight visit to Eloy Detention Center
WASHINGTON – Last week, Representative Yassamin Ansari (AZ-03) sent a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Acting Director of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement Todd Lyons detailing deep concerns about the inhumane conditions of the Eloy ICE Detention Center and demanding answers and independent oversight. The letter follows Ansari’s surprise oversight visit to the Eloy Detention Center just last month.
While at the facility, Ansari spoke with dozens of women who shared stories of sickening and inhumane treatment by security personnel. Women spoke of being forced to march in the heat for hours, living without air conditioning in extremely high temperatures, and enduring dehumanizing language without any opportunities to access counsel, to which they are legally and constitutionally entitled.
“While Donald Trump continues to carry out his indiscriminate war on immigrants, obliterate existing oversight mechanisms, and arrest and intimidate elected officials for doing their jobs, it is essential that we know how ICE is operating and what’s going on with regard to conditions in detention centers like Eloy,” said Rep. Ansari.“The stories I heard from women last month in Eloy were sickening, and, just yesterday, we watched Trump’s ICE agents detain another public official for doing his job. That’s why I wrote to Sec. Noem and Director Lyons to demand answers about the treatment of migrants and the conduct of ICE officers so they cannot continue to get away with their authoritarian and xenophobic agenda.”
Read the letter HERE and below.
Dear Secretary Noem and Acting Director Lyons,
I am writing to detail my deep concerns about the inhumane conditions that have been reported to me by detainees at Eloy Detention Center in Arizona. During my May 29, 2025, oversight visit at that facility, I spoke to over 20 detainees who verified concerning reports surrounding staff conduct and the substandard conditions of the facility, many of which should already be documented through your internal “grievance” process.
Specifically, some of the incidents I learned about included:
- An instance that occurred approximately one month ago in which a guard ordered detainees to walk laps in the courtyard outside the cafeteria for hours until they were dizzy and sick. One detainee apparently collapsed and fainted due to these unsafe conditions.
- Instances where guards apparently manipulated the A/C system, such as by turning off the A/C for weeks in the Alpha living areas and then blasting the A/C at alarmingly low temperatures, resulting in many detainees being unable to sleep at night and eventually becoming ill.
- Instances where facility staff removed furniture from cells and placed plastic mats on the floor to accommodate more detainees.
- Reports from social workers and attorneys noting a significant decline in the number of detainees attending legal orientation presentations in recent weeks and months. These examples, and others, raise serious concerns that some staff under your respective departments have abused the power of their positions and are not executing their duty to “house aliens to secure their presence for immigration proceedings or removal from the U.S.”
The conclusion I have come to is that, without independent oversight, this detention center is interfering with detainees’ constitutional right to due process and proving to be inaccessible and lacking in transparency for Arizona families.
With these concerns in mind, I respectfully request your thorough responses to the following requests for information by Friday, June 23, 2025, at 5 p.m.:
- Since January of 2025, how many complaints have the Office of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties (CRCL) and the Office of the Immigration Detention Ombudsman (OIDO) received for the Eloy Detention Center, and how many have been adequately investigated or responded to and within what time frame?
- Within the Eloy Detention Center, how are “grievances” filed by detainees logged and responded to? Please provide a detailed response.
- Please provide copies of any and all reports, documents, and communications regarding the incident that occurred approximately a month ago where detainees were ordered to march outside the cafeteria at Eloy Detention Center, resulting in one detainee fainting.
- During Arizona’s summer season, the average high temperatures can range from 100 to 120 degrees Fahrenheit. How does Eloy Detention Center keep its detainees hydrated and safe in livable conditions? At what temperature does the Eloy Detention Center maintain its housing units? Please provide copies of all reports, documents, guidance, and policies relevant to temperature regulation at Eloy Detention Center or ICE detention facilities in general.
- Are there plans to fit three detainees into any or all cells at Eloy Detention Center? Please provide all documents, policies, guidance, and communications regarding the maximum number of detainees that can be accommodated in any cell at any given time at Eloy Detention Center
- Please describe, in detail, the process by which detainees at Eloy Detention Center are informed about their ability to request a legal orientation presentation by an independent attorney, such as those offered by the Florence Project, or to speak one-on-one with an attorney as is their constitutional right. Are sign-up forms available for detainees to access legal counsel, and, if so, where are they located and are those forms available in multiple languages?
This letter only begins to address my list of concerns regarding this facility. However, to quickly address my immediate areas of concern, I’ve prioritized obtaining answers to the above-listed questions that your representatives have denied via public statement on June 2, 2025.2 If your Department engages in an additional scheduled visit to review these concerns and identify the associated documented complaints, I expect you will be disturbed by what you uncover.
The Supreme Court has recognized that Congress has a “broad and indispensable” power to conduct oversight, which “encompasses inquiries into the administration of existing laws, studies of proposed laws, and surveys in our social, economic or political system for the purpose of enabling Congress to remedy them.”3 Your responses will be critical in assisting with Congressional determination as to whether additional legislation or legislative steps are necessary. Such potential legislative reforms could include, among other proposals, establishing a nationwide set of standards for U.S.-operated detention facilities and enhancing reporting and monitoring tools to improve accountability and transparency efforts.
When producing documents, please do not alter them in any way, including but not limited to the application of redactions or watermarks except to protect the privacy of specific persons. Additionally, digital copies should be provided in a format that enables their printing and copying.
Sincerely,
Congresswoman Yassamin Ansari, AZ-03
Follow @RepYassAnsari on all social media platforms and visit Ansari.House.gov to learn more.
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