There is no single comprehensive federal data set on “dehumanizing or degrading treatment” during deportation, but multiple oversight bodies, NGOs, and investigations provide partial counts and qualitative evidence of widespread problems.[1][2]

What is (and is not) counted

• DHS does not publish a category for “dehumanizing or degrading treatment” in removal statistics; instead, incidents appear in:
  • Internal inspection reports and Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties (CRCL) expert reviews.[3]
  • Grievances and complaints in ICE’s own systems.[4]
  • Congressional and watchdog investigations.[5]
  • NGO documentation and litigation records.[6][7]
• ICE’s poor recordkeeping and failure to log incidents of mistreatment mean official numbers almost certainly undercount abuse.[1]

Available quantitative indicators

No source gives “number of degrading-treatment cases during deportations” per se, but these are the closest quantitative indicators:

• A Senate investigation led by Sen. Jon Ossoff identified 510 credible reports of human rights violations involving people in immigration custody (not limited to but including those facing deportation), including 41 reports of physical or sexual abuse, 18 involving mistreatment of minors, and 14 involving pregnant women.[5]
• CRCL-hired inspectors reviewing over two dozen facilities (2017–2019) documented “unsafe and filthy” conditions, racist abuse, misuse of pepper spray against mentally ill detainees, and negligent medical care that in some cases contributed to deaths.[3]
• In California, an ACLU of Northern California analysis of ICE grievance records (2023–2024) reviewed over 480 grievances related to conditions; only 8 percent (39 grievances) were found “founded” by ICE, even though complaints described hazardous living conditions, medical neglect, abusive solitary confinement, harassment, and retaliatory abuse.[4]
• Freedom for Immigrants’ earlier national review documented 49 detailed cases of abuse in immigration detention explicitly motivated by hate (racist, xenophobic, homophobic, etc.), illustrating patterns of degrading treatment; this again covers detention and transfer stages tied to deportation processes.[7]

These figures are best read as minimums, given systemic barriers to reporting (fear of retaliation, language access, disbelief of complaints) and under-documentation by ICE.[1][4]

Qualitative patterns during the deportation process

Across official and NGO reports, patterns of degrading treatment appear at several key stages tied to deportation: intake/processing, detention, transport, and removal attempts.

Intake and detention conditions

• Human Rights Watch’s 2025 investigation in three Florida facilities documented:
  • Prolonged exposure to very cold temperatures, denial of blankets, extreme overcrowding, and inoperative sanitation with exposure to feces-covered toilets.[6]
  • People forced to sleep on concrete floors under constant lighting, denied basic hygiene and adequate medical care.[6]
  • These conditions were assessed as meeting the threshold for inhuman and degrading treatment under the ICCPR and the Convention Against Torture.[6]
• NPR’s review of CRCL inspection reports described cases such as:
  • A compliant detainee with a mental health condition strapped in a restraint chair having his clothes cut off by a female officer, which inspectors labeled a “barbaric” practice with no legitimate correctional rationale.[3]
• A 2024 ACLU of Northern California report on detention in that state documented:
  • Hazardous conditions, medical neglect, sleep deprivation, abusive use of solitary confinement, sexual assault, and degrading pat-downs.[4]
  • Retaliation against people who filed grievances, including intimidation and placement in solitary confinement.[4]

Transport, shackling, and removal pressure

• Human Rights Watch reported that some detainees were:
  • Shackled for prolonged periods on buses without adequate food, water, or functioning toilets, particularly during transfers tied to removal.[6]
  • Slammed, stomped on, or beaten when they expressed fear of being sent to Mexico or requested medication.[6]
• ACLU and allied groups have documented:
  • Physical assaults, including officers crushing men’s testicles during beatings to coerce them to accept removal to Mexico or third countries, described by detained individuals in ICE custody.[8]
  • Use of intimidation and excessive force at facilities like Fort Bliss in the context of removal pressure.[8]