Two additional cases—the El Paso Processing Center pattern-of-abuse allegations (Texas) and the “Jane Doe” lawsuit over an assault at the Houston Processing Center—underscore how sexual violence in ICE custody is facilitated by blind spots, deportability, and privatization, despite PREA-era rules.[1][2][3][4]
In 2020–2021, multiple women detained at the El Paso Processing Center (a facility overseen by ICE and operated by a contractor) alleged that guards “systematically” assaulted them in camera blind spots, touching and kissing their intimate areas and coercing them with promises of help securing release. One key witness, a 35‑year‑old Mexican mother who had been detained there for about a year, reported that at least two guards repeatedly assaulted her near the medical unit in areas not visible to cameras, including groping and kissing her and watching her in the bathroom; one guard said that if she “behaved,” he would help get her out.[2][1]
Lawyers filed a complaint with DHS’s Office of Inspector General describing a “pattern and practice” of abuse and identifying multiple officers, yet ICE then deported this central witness even after DHS instructed that she not be removed while the investigation was pending. Qualitatively, this case shows:[2]
Under current law, DHS’s 2014 PREA standards and ICE’s detention standards formally require investigation, preservation of evidence, and non‑retaliation, but the El Paso case illustrates how, in practice, immigration enforcement priorities (removals, bed space) can easily override those protections.[6][3][5]
A 2022 law review article discusses the federal civil suit filed by “Jane Doe” against CoreCivic over an alleged 2018 assault while she was held at the Houston Processing Center under ICE control. Doe alleged that she and two other women were taken to an isolated area of the facility where a male CoreCivic employee sexually assaulted them while they were under ICE custody, leading to a pregnancy and complicated birth and leaving her with severe emotional distress and suicidal ideation.[4]
Doe’s counsel argued that ICE had a “history of continuous sexual abuse” in detention facilities and that privatization—reliance on companies like CoreCivic despite known risks—magnified detainees’ exposure to sexual assault. Qualitatively, this case illustrates:[3][4]
Legally, Doe’s experience occurs well after PREA’s enactment and DHS’s 2014 standards, and during a period when ICE publicly claims zero tolerance for sexual abuse and full PREA alignment in its detention standards. The very need for a damages suit against a contractor to vindicate basic bodily integrity underscores how limited PREA’s enforcement mechanisms are: there is no robust, independent, specialized body with power to impose serious penalties or to halt ICE contracting with facilities where abuse is systemic.[9][5][7][3]
Taken together, the El Paso and Houston cases show that, even in the post‑PREA regulatory landscape, sexual violence in ICE custody emerges where guards can exploit surveillance gaps, deportability, and privatization—and that current laws and standards often function more as paper shields than as effective restraints on abuse.[1][2][3][4]
Sources [1] ICE Guards “Systematically” Sexually Assault Detainees in an El ... https://www.propublica.org/article/ice-guards-systematically-sexually-assault-detainees-in-an-el-paso-detention-center-lawyers-say [2] ICE Deported a Woman Who Accused Guards of Sexual Assault ... https://www.propublica.org/article/ice-has-deported-a-woman-who-said-guards-sexually-assaulted-her-while-the-investigation-is-ongoing [3] Detained, then Violated - Just Detention International https://justdetention.org/detained-then-violated/ [4] [PDF] The Reality of Sexual Assault in Immigration Detention Centers https://commons.stmarytx.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1401&context=thestmaryslawjournal [5] 6 CFR Part 115 -- Sexual Abuse and Assault Prevention Standards https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-6/chapter-I/part-115 [6] [PDF] Federal Register - National PREA Resource Center https://www.prearesourcecenter.org/sites/default/files/content/2014-04675.pdf [7] [PDF] Addressing Sexual Abuse in US Detention Facilities https://justdetention.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Addressing-Sexual-Abuse-in-U.S.-Detention-Facilities.pdf [8] New Documents Detail Sex Abuse of Detained Immigrants https://justdetention.org/new-documents-detail-sex-abuse-of-detained-immigrants/ [9] [PDF] DHS PREA Standards - The GEO Group https://www.geogroup.com/media/t55dip4y/dhs-prea-standards.pdf [10] Corrections — Page 4 - ProPublica https://www.propublica.org/corrections/page/4 [11] [PDF] Jon Ossoff - Senate.gov https://www.ossoff.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/260114_Report_Patterns_v5.pdf [12] Than 170 U.S. Citizens Have Been Held by Immigration Agents ... https://www.propublica.org/article/immigration-dhs-american-citizens-arrested-detained-against-will [13] “They Treat You Like You Are Worthless”: Internal DHS Reports of ... https://www.hrw.org/report/2021/10/21/they-treat-you-you-are-worthless/internal-dhs-reports-abuses-us-border-officials [14] [PDF] Immigration Detention Abolition and the Violence of Digital Cages https://scholar.law.colorado.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1518&context=lawreview [15] The Trump Administration's “Zero Tolerance” Immigration ... https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/R45266 [16] [PDF] Hope Behind Bars - Just Detention International https://justdetention.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Advocates_Manual_FINAL_2017_3.pdf [17] [PDF] Immigration Detention Expansion in Trump's Second Term https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/immigration-detention-report.pdf [18] Detained Immigrants Detail Physical Abuse and Inhumane ... - ACLU https://www.aclu.org/news/immigrants-rights/detained-immigrants-detail-physical-abuse-and-inhumane-conditions-at-largest-immigration-detention-center-in-the-u-s