Harrowing details are coming out about the country’s detention centers, and the accusations are undeniable. Politicians are confirming the first-hand accounts of detainees, painting a traumatic and gruesome picture of those on the outside. The most recent to confirm the horrendous living conditions of those detained is Representative Jamie Raskin. As he spoke in Baltimore about his recent visit to an ICE holding facility, many felt sick at the description.
“We saw one room of men where there were 55 people in there, in a room I would not put more than a dozen or 15 people,” he says, speaking to the public. “They said it could actually fit more. People were just shoulder to shoulder. They sleep there, on the ground with those aluminum blankets you’ve seen. And the minute we got in and started being able to look around, all of the men began to gesture to us that they needed to shower.”
Raskin goes on to describe what he saw. “There’s no shower. So theoretically, they’re not supposed to be in there for more than three days. But there were people telling us through the window that they’d been there for five days, six days, or seven days. And to be packed in with 55 people and no showers, and one toilet, it’s just not a healthy, sanitary situation for anybody within this system,“ he says.
Sickening, Cruel, and Inhumane
As Raskin’s words reached Maryland locals and circulated on Reddit, people had visceral reactions. “Unconscionable. Sickening. These concentration camp guards need to be exposed,” one user says. “Raskin, thank you! We need aggressive oversight. Pictures. Accountability. Release. These are human rights violations. Terrible,” another chimes in, grateful for the politician’s honesty.
Others were less surprised but equally infuriated by the detention center’s conditions. “
They’re trying to be as vile as they can. It’s all by design. A tactic,” one Redditor says. Another calls the centers out for what they are, without sugarcoating. “Stop calling them holding facilities. They’re concentration camps.”
