Journalists Jailed by ICE Are Revealing the Horrors of Incarceration

"For decades, corporate media and elected officials have shown little interest in reporting by incarcerated individuals on the unchecked inhumane treatment and deplorable conditions inside U.S. jails, detention centers, and prisons. But as a result of the Trump administration's escalation of anti-immigrant violence and efforts to quell all dissent, professional journalists and writers, who normally are severely restricted from entering into the U.S.'s carceral facilities, are now themselves experiencing the harsh realities that nearly 2.1 million incarcerated people are subjected to daily in this country."

"British journalist Sami Hamdi was traveling the country on a valid U.S. visa for a public speaking tour when he was abducted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials at a California airport. The Trump administration revoked Hamdi's visa in response to a campaign by far right social media influencers who didn't like Hamdi's criticism of Israel's genocide in Gaza. For more than two weeks, Hamdi endured the trauma of being held in multiple ICE jails."

Longstanding institutional neglect has left incarcerated people subject to unchecked inhumane treatment and deplorable conditions across U.S. jails, detention centers, and prisons. An escalation of anti-immigrant enforcement and efforts to quell dissent exposed these realities to journalists and writers who normally lack access to carceral facilities. Direct exposure by outside observers has corroborated reports of rampant deprivation of basic necessities, denial of due process, medical neglect, and a culture of blatant cruelty. High-profile detentions, including the abduction and multi-week imprisonment of a visiting journalist by ICE and the revocation of his visa, intensified scrutiny of law enforcement and prison agencies.

Read at Truthout