About 300 immigrants are held in solitary confinement by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials at any given time, many for an amount of time that psychiatrists believe can cause serious mental harm, the New York Times reported Sunday.
The federal data, which officials began reviewing a year ago at the request of immigration lawyers, offers the first public snapshot of the number of immigrants held in solitary confinement, how long they were there and how many had mental health problems — about 10 percent. The 50 facilities that were reviewed by the agency over a five-month period hold about 85 percent of the agency’s average daily population of 34,000 detainees.
