Immigrant Rights Advocates Demand Full Investigation with Accountability and Transparency Due to Rising Death Tolls in ICE Detention Facilities
YORK, PA – The Pennsylvania Director of immigrant advocacy organization CASA, Shamaine Daniels, issued the following statement reacting to the lamentable death of Chaofeng Ge at the Moshannon Valley Processing Center in Pennsylvania, under the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
“We are heartbroken by the death of Mr. Ge, an immigrant who died while under the custody of the Trump regime at the Moshannon Valley Processing Center in Pennsylvania. First and foremost, our thoughts are with Mr. Ge’s family and loved ones during this devastating time. His death is an unacceptable tragedy, and we urge a full, transparent investigation into the circumstances that led to this loss of life. Moshannon Valley must be closed immediately.
“Mr. Ge is the 12th person to die in ICE detention in under seven months since Donald Trump returned to the presidency. This is an alarming and indefensible trend. These deaths are happening as the Trump regime systematically dismantles oversight mechanisms within the Department of Homeland Security. Nearly all staff in the DHS Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, the Office of the Immigration Detention Ombudsman, and the DHS Inspector General’s Office have been fired or sidelined. Congressional attempts at oversight have been blocked, including unannounced inspections of detention centers.
“We are especially concerned about conditions at facilities operated by private prison corporations like the GEO Group, which owns and runs Moshannon Valley. For-profit detention centers have a well-documented history of cutting corners on medical care, staffing, and safety at the expense of human lives. For years, CASA has been raising the alarm against this savage form of incarceration and in favor of alternatives to detention.
“This tragedy also comes amid the passage of Trump’s so-called “Big Bad Betrayal Bill,” which massively expands immigration detention and enforcement. This bill funnels billions of taxpayer dollars to militarize ICE and escalate the use of detention at the expense of Pennsylvania families. The Trump regime is siphoning dollars from our rural hospitals and healthcare to kidnap our immigrant brothers, sisters, and siblings. We call on ICE to immediately reduce its reliance on detention, end contracts with private prison companies, and invest in life-affirming alternatives. Local counties should not cooperate with this nefarious agency and should not send parents and other community members into these harrowing jails. No one should die while in government custody. Mr. Ge should be alive today.”