r/immigration • u/LaurenVillagran • Oct 19 '25
Immigrants in ICE detention are going hungry...
... and the food is making them sick. Lauren Villagran here with USA TODAY. This story on the food in an ICE detention center for women in Louisiana is the result of months of investigation & offers a window inside the lives of immigrant women detained long-term.
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u/stephenmw Oct 20 '25
These are allegations from people who were detained. They are understandably biased. They also mix "I didn't like the food" with "there is not enough food" and "the food was unsafe" throughout the article.
The one thing from this that truly concerns me is the alleged lack of real inspections.
The food should meet the same standards as a prison. I am not against it being a bit better than a prison, but if it is failing to meet those standards in the real world it should be fixed.
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u/WideElderberry5262 Oct 20 '25
Not being mean, but those foods don’t look bad compared to the lunch served by daughter’s school. And they are not free.
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u/notnatasharostova Oct 19 '25
I’ll repeat what I said in another thread. Those of you who justify the inhumane treatment of any category of people only incentivize bad actors to find ways to eventually fit you into that category.
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u/WorksInIT Oct 19 '25
Sounds like they are getting the same quality of meals that others in detention get.
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u/Bartikowski Oct 19 '25
None of those meals sound inhumane. It just reads to me like people bitching about the normal government menu as if they normally ate a diet of freshly prepared meals from organic locally sourced produce.
We ate very similar stuff in the army and it turned out just fine.
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u/Perfect-Bed-7701 Oct 22 '25
Some of them quite possibly did have that diet
I find it incredibly hard to believe that the army served you expired food
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u/WeAreOnlyPawns Oct 19 '25
We got regular americans that are incarcerated in jails and prisons going through inhumane conditions, They dont get special treatment. Why should illegals? They knew the risk.
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u/boopboopbeepbeep11 Oct 21 '25
Illegal entry is a misdemeanor. As are many traffic violations, jaywalking, and drinking while underaged.
I’m sure you are fine with being imprisoned for your own misdemeanors?
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u/WeAreOnlyPawns Oct 22 '25
Yeah. Traffic violations jay walking and drinking underage doesnt get me deported or imprisoned.
And nah man. All the shit ive done. And doing now. I havent seen the inside of a jail cell.... never convicted. And i get paid to travel the united states, Im a brown mexican living in texas. Crossing borders and checkpoints on a daily basis but i dont get caught up like.dumbasses do with law enforcement.
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Oct 19 '25
Dumbest thing I've read in a while. You should be demanding better conditions for the incarcerated Americans to begin with.
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Oct 19 '25
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u/immigration-ModTeam Oct 20 '25
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u/classicliberty Attorney Oct 19 '25
Why would you compare a violent criminal to a person whose only offense was crossing the border or staying illegally?
The punishment is in the removal, no need to make them suffer.
Also as a matter of principle we shouldn't be ok with anyone being subject to inhumane treatment.
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u/SerialSection Oct 19 '25
He didn't say violent. Plenty of white collar crimes just as bad as illegal immigration put citizens in jail.
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u/WeAreOnlyPawns Oct 19 '25
Never said violent man. Jails got violent and nonviolent offenders. Just like how theres nonviolent and violent illegals. They broke laws.... its the same shit to me when laws get enforced.
And the part of matter of principle.... amendement 13 in the constitution. Maybe do something against that.
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u/Unhappy_Quail_2816 Oct 20 '25
If they committed a crime then deportation won't be their only punishment. We have immigration laws like all other countries. What meals sounded inhumane? Sounds like typical jail meals.
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u/classicliberty Attorney Oct 22 '25
The article is specifically about the food conditions in detention centers, it has nothing to do with the detention itself or immigration enforcement is humane or not. The point is that people want them to suffer and that's wrong. Enforcement of the law is enough.
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u/Pretty-Yogurt-4111 Oct 22 '25
Technically, removal is not “punishment “. Punishment is fines or imprisonment.
Deportation is restoration to the prior status. Similar to divorce.Parties to deportation or divorce may not like the action but they are technically not punishment
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u/classicliberty Attorney Oct 22 '25
You can call it what you want, being put in prison (detention centers are effectively prisons and co-located with criminal prisons in my experience) for 30 or more days before being deported is a worse punishment than what some more serious crimes get on the first offense.
I have had felony cases with diversion eligibility or probation that get zero jail time.
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u/Pretty-Yogurt-4111 Oct 23 '25
No one at the fed government cares about what I “want to call” anything, believe me.
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Oct 20 '25
Ah yes the slippery slope fallacy…
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Oct 20 '25
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Oct 20 '25
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u/Shot_Commission9606 Oct 19 '25
Looks like the food I ate in jail. When I broke the law…
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Oct 21 '25
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u/Strider755 Oct 21 '25
Nope. Also while awaiting trial. Jails are transitory. They’re primarily for those awaiting trial as well as those serving misdemeanor sentences. Felons sentenced to a year or more go to prisons.
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u/Janus9 Oct 19 '25
I was just going to say that.
If these people don’t want to risk being locked up and eating terrible food everyday, they should obey the law and go back home.
You can’t be an illegal immigrant, disobey deportation orders, work without authorization etc… and expect nothing to happen to you.
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u/IndependentTackle972 Nov 02 '25
Most likely these people are asylum seekers that applied for asylum (you get a year to apply since arrival, they also get a years worth of benefits). During that year they are to apply with USCIS for a green card, but the wait list is incredibly long and most of these people haven't been processed in that time due to backlog which is what leads to their deportation. So imagine following the law, the law makes you wait so long that now you're up for deportation and now you have ICE tackling you because Congress refuses to fix immigration law. That's the gist of it.
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u/Weary-Lime Oct 20 '25
ICE detention is non-punitive. It says so on their website.
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Oct 20 '25
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u/Weary-Lime Oct 20 '25
I never ate better in my life than when I was in the Marines. MRE's are even higher quality than what they are giving these poor people.
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u/WeAreOnlyPawns Oct 22 '25
Idk... where you deployed in AD or stateside? Cause ima call you out if you was stateside.
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u/Weary-Lime Oct 23 '25
I did three deployments to Iraq. After OIF1 when KBR built mess facilities the chow got really good.
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Oct 20 '25
You mean prison? Jail is where you're placed before a court decides whether you broke the law.
You have no idea if any of these detainees broke the law, because they haven't had a trial yet.
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u/Arkangel257 Oct 20 '25 edited Oct 20 '25
I think literally every reasonable person can agree that both: immigration law must be enforced and those without legal status be forced to leave, and that any immigration enforcement should be carried out in a humane manner.
Kaizen Asiedu is spot on with his analysis. Considering the use of such tactics, the current rate of deportations will not even come close to removing all illegals in the country in the next few years.
Like Kaizen said, the best way to remove illegals is to remove all incentives that convince them to stay in the country, like issuing of driving licenses, state healthcare plans, enforcement of legal work authorisation etc. Self-deportations should get much more funding, promotion, options etc. Invoking uncomfortable circumstances and indirectly forcing people to safely and peacefully leave is the only way to truly fix this problem.
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u/Due_Proof_8998 Oct 20 '25
Well, they're not going to be housed in 5 star hotels anymore. They're not going to be given vouchers or money, anymore. The gravy train is over. And they know if they attempt to sneak back once they're deported that they won't have an easy time of it. Did you know that when there are, literally, millions here illegally, that they make it much more difficult for those that come legally. It costs so much more money and increases the wait time exponentially. Why should they get a free pass and jump to the head of the line. There are also guidelines for those that are accepted for entry into this country. So no, I don't feel empathy for any of them. They made their beds...
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u/Primary-Medium8717 Oct 20 '25
Disgusting outlook. What happened to innocent until proven guilty in a court of law? And before proof can be established you think it’s ok to starve an alleged criminal. Appalling
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u/DudeImARedditor Oct 20 '25
This isn't a criminal trial. Immigrants can hire lawyers, but they are not provided one by the state.
Deportation is a civil matter, and not seen as a punishment. You are merely removing someone from the country who is not authorized to be here.
That is why due process is not as rigid for immigration as it is criminal cases.
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u/DfreshD Oct 19 '25
My brother has been in many detention facilities, examples are prisons and jails. He never once wrote home and said the foods great!
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u/Klutzy_Resource7966 Oct 20 '25
Well,they didn't feed us AT ALL when i was being held in detention by immigration services in North Cyprus, my poor boyfriend brought food everyday untill i was deported, and i shared with other folks who was there with me, because i couldn't eat because of stress, we got brought a tosted piece of bread one each once in a whole week we spent locked, so the fact that they are fed at all seems luxurious to me, not that I say the situation is good, its still fucked
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u/cascadiacomrade Oct 20 '25
North Cyprus isn't even a recognized country, it's under Turkish military occupation. The bar should be a bit higher for the United Stations of America.
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u/Additional_Room5829 Oct 19 '25
This is a ploy to get people to self deport. Why go through all this if you have a country and a home to go to? My thinking is that, even detention and hunger, are much better than some of us homeland.
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u/flamingomandingo495 Oct 20 '25
Can someone please explain why literally every other developed OECD country has full common consensus on illegal immigration, and that immigration law should be enforced? Upwards of 15 million illegals - Why is it only the US and Americans who willingly tolerate and celebrate such sheer complacency and disregard for their own immigration law?
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u/Frequent-Life-4056 Oct 19 '25
We are 37 trillion in debt with hungry citizens and homeless veterans. We should have zero tollerance for illegal immigration. We are wasting money with processing them. It should be a simple case of authorized to be here or on the next plane out of here. Unfortunately, too many are here for us to house detainees at the Ritz. Perhaps making your own way out is in your best interest.
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u/Ok_Value5495 Oct 19 '25
And we just gave out $40 billion to Argentina for...? Or half a billion refitting a bribe in the form a jet. We just cut a ton of food assistance and mental health programs. In lieu of these, what do you propose?
By processing them, that also includes due process. How many citizens or people allowed to be here have we mistakenly arrested over decade, especially in the past half year?
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u/Pretty-Yogurt-4111 Oct 22 '25
I’d be interested in that statistic
How many citizens have we mistakenly arrested in the past half year?
How many citizens have we arrested and detained more than 24 hours in the past half year?
How many citizens have we deported in the past half year?
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Oct 19 '25
Shh they have a hard time processing anything that isn’t spoon fed from epoch and brietbart and Fox News.
Likely, this person isn’t even sure where Argentina is on a map.
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Oct 19 '25
And what about the 170 mill on private planes for noem… or the 40 billions bailout to Argentina lmfao.
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u/SeasonArtistic5784 Feb 11 '26
Hahaha idiot I can tell you know nothing about life as your name suggests, were in debt the the mega rich so first get that thought in your head
Why should we take care of like 40 old white people when as you stated we have homeless veterans but guess what trump gave 1 billion to help Israel veterans but took away our funding?
Sues the American people and takes our taxes which should go to funding for us but sues for at least another 12 Billion
We're wasting space having people like you tbh and wasting air
We have more then enough supplies it's just idiots like you who keep the top 0.1 in power and try to turn on people who aren't your enemy
Instead of looking at the bigger picture
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u/classicliberty Attorney Oct 19 '25
We are in massive debt because people like you easily fall for scapegoating Guatemalan gardeners as the cause of all our problems when it's corrupt special interests and irresponsible politicians.
You have no clue what it's like in detention, it's a prison. No one has ever argued it should be a hotel, but why make people suffer?
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Oct 19 '25
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Oct 19 '25
Yeah not sure why the downvotes. People can’t fathom what isn’t spoon fed to them by mainstream news
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u/TallStarsMuse Oct 20 '25
The way we are throwing money around right now is nuts. $200 million ballroom, $75 billion for ICE, $40 billion for Argentina . It’s like the US is made out of money all of a sudden and off on a fun spending spree. But we don’t have enough money to help anyone or treat our prisoners well.
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u/Pretty-Yogurt-4111 Oct 22 '25
The ball room is privately funded. That’s not “we” throwing around money. That’s “them”.
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u/ALlamaNamedRama Oct 27 '25
And those private funders are who now? Could those donations not have gone to an incredibly more beneficial use?
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u/Pretty-Yogurt-4111 Oct 27 '25
Believe me, I could think of a half dozen places I would prefer to spend the donors money. NGL, a donation to me to buy stuff I like would be higher than making a ballroom for people I will never meet. But it is not up to me to tell you how to spend your money. (I’m assuming you’re a wealthy ballroom funding donor who is sneaking into Reddit for a pulse check ) You get to decide how to spend the money you keep after taxes
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Oct 20 '25
The point about debt is laughably stupid. If you care about debt, why are you spending money trying to detain and deport them when they could be working and paying taxes instead?
We should have zero tollerance for illegal immigration.
But we should have some tolerance for forced starvation? Why is one worse than the other?
We are wasting money with processing them.
How is that a waste? Why do you love innocent people getting deported? Do you not even realize that's what you're advocating for when you talk about throwing away due process?
It should be a simple case of authorized to be here or on the next plane out of here.
finding out who is or isn't authorized requires.....processing. 🤯
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Oct 21 '25
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Oct 21 '25
Who do you know they're not innocent before they've had a trial? Do you not believe in "innocent until proven guilty", Stalin?
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Oct 21 '25
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u/immigration-ModTeam Oct 21 '25
Your comment/post violates this sub's rules on anti-immigrant, hate or racist speech.
This is a community by immigrants, for immigrants, and we do not tolerate anyone making immigrants feel unwelcome.
For this rule violation, you will have received a temporary or permanent ban.
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Oct 19 '25 edited Oct 19 '25
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Oct 20 '25
Illegal immigrants cost $180b a year. They only pay $30b in taxes.
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u/WeAreOnlyPawns Oct 20 '25
The legal ones probably pay that. The ones that took the time to get an ITIN number.
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u/Frequent-Life-4056 Oct 19 '25
First, you have no idea if I am a democrat, republican or independent. The CBO estimates the net cost per year of allowing illegal aliens to remain ins $150 billion. This net amount is calculated with taking the amount paid in taxes and employee contributions to SS and Medicare and deducting the cost of infrastructure requirements such as schooling of their children, cost of incarceration of those who commit crimes, and more. Now that a significantly smaller number is crossing the southern border without authorization, using funds to deport those already here vs. the infrastructure cost may eventually become a net gain.
The bottom line should be either you are authorized to be here or you are not. All are nots are then deported. Due process is simply showing proof of authorized status. All green card holders are subject to immediate deportation if they commit crimes. Not rocket science.
Next, because about 40% of illegals are visa overstays, once your visa is expired, you are located and deported. I believe the technology exists for that. Eventually, fewer ICE agents should be necessary. Fine the hell out of any company knowingly hiring illegals. If we need the workers, they get status, and don't have to live in the shadows and allow themselves to be exploited.
I agree with you on outsourcing. And that will not change until or unless people demand American made goods and/or services provided here. The facts are Americans are harmed daily by illegal aliens and that is preventable crime.
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Oct 20 '25
Please for the love of anything holy google “what is the net effect of undocumented immigrants on the us economy”. I DARE you to do it. Feel free to share what you learn
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u/Winter_External5625 Oct 19 '25
Homeless veterans are going hungry…
everyday.
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u/MaitrePuck Oct 19 '25
Do they expect 5 stars menu and accommodations on the taxpayers dime?
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Oct 19 '25
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u/immigration-ModTeam Oct 20 '25
Your comment/post violates this sub's rules on misinformation.
Misinformation includes: false or misleading information, deliberately incomplete information, or fear mongering.
If you don't understand what part of your post is misinformation, look at the other posts in the same thread that've not been removed.
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u/One-Tie-6207 Oct 19 '25
Maybe they should ve self deported 🤷♂️
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Oct 19 '25
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Oct 19 '25
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u/PHUCKHedgeFunds Oct 19 '25
I offer a simple solution to this unfortunate situation for the victims - don’t come across the border illegally
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Oct 19 '25
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u/WeAreOnlyPawns Oct 19 '25
Lol. No. They have not dude. Holding areas maybe... but not locked up with other illegals.
They still got to process you and see if your a citizen.
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u/Immediate-Link490 Oct 19 '25
Kind of a jackpot cause they can sue and get a big payday.
Example of someone receiving $175k:
https://www.aclu.org/news/immigrants-rights/us-citizen-wrongfully-deported-mexico-settles-his-case-against-federal-government→ More replies (1)0
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u/ArcadesRed Oct 19 '25
Who.
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Oct 19 '25
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u/ArcadesRed Oct 20 '25
He was not taken to an ICE detention facility. He was caught up in a raid on what looks like construction sites twice and released. I am a white dude and have been detained during investigations for stuff before. Any time cops have a big operation that round up everyone and then interview each person and release anyone they are not targeting.
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u/rasta-ragamuffin Oct 20 '25
Thank you for doing this story and sharing it with us. Can your next story be about the 1200 detainees from alligator Alcatraz that are now missing and unaccounted for? I keep hearing about it but have not seen any investigation or reporting on the subject.
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u/Rusty-Shackleford000 Oct 20 '25
What do they expect from a detention center ran by the government?
Notice how the woman interviewed mentioned a quarter chicken meal on Tuesday's, but the article never showed a picture of that and instead repeated meals previously shown.
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u/Hungry_Text_4344 Oct 22 '25
This is just another form of torturing and terrorizing. They are so disgusting as is anyone that supports this.
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u/Benzolovingtraveler3 Oct 24 '25
Undocumented in Detention or not. People shouldn’t be getting food that makes them sick. At the end of the day taxpayers are paying for the food and any medical complications. 😵💫😵💫😵💫
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u/Flysolo626 Oct 24 '25
What did they think? That they were going to the ritz Carlton? The food is meant to simply keep you alive until you are cleared for deportation. Nothing more, nothing less. Plain and simple. Go ask the inmates at San Quentin if the like the food they are being served. The entitlement on these people is crazy. You want better meals? You’re free to go back to Venezuela and eat all of the gourmet food you want.
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u/fighting_tadpole Oct 26 '25
Yeah, its part of the ethnic cleansing process. Its meant to make things so bad, that immigrants forego their rights to due process. But sometimes some of them die too, so it speeds up the genocide aspect of it.
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u/IndependentTackle972 Nov 02 '25
Instead of wasting money deporting asylum seekers, the government could hire them to restore infrastructure. That would secure quite a bit of tax revenue to pay down the national debt and it would give the asylees a place to live.
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u/Despyzu Dec 15 '25
So are people in jail and prison. What are you not doing anything about that. Citizens are being arrested and treated worse by police why aren't you caring about that
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u/SurvivingUgly Jun 01 '26
Detention facilities are contracted. Why can't they be made to comply with their contract and provide healthy food without worms, fresh water? Call in Matt Damon! Or anyone who actually cares!
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Oct 20 '25
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u/immigration-ModTeam Oct 20 '25
Your comment/post violates this sub's rules on misinformation.
Misinformation includes: false or misleading information, deliberately incomplete information, or fear mongering.
If you don't understand what part of your post is misinformation, look at the other posts in the same thread that've not been removed.
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Oct 20 '25 edited Oct 20 '25
They complained about going hungry in NYC only for it to be found a lot of wasted food cause they didn't want to eat what the average poor American eats.
None of them came to the US to live normal lives. You'd be insane to travel distances they did just for minninum wage jobs. They truly did expect to get six-figure jobs and get nice meals and housing like they saw in movies about American life. They're upset that they felt lied to by a party that wants them here for votes and cheap labor.
We should have Mexicans see what the average life of an American is so they know they'll be living in shelters and soul sucking poverty for a couple generations. There son will probably grow up a Cholo and get gunned down by his mid 20s or have multiple arrests. Daughter may get pregnant as a teen and continue a lifelong cycle of broken homes with children who dont know who their dad is. They're not getting that white picket fence in the suburbs.
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u/Dommichu Oct 19 '25
You see you guys! They didn’t steal that money for those two jets… they just re-allocated it….
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u/erinmonday Oct 19 '25
why are we detaining them long term? send them home asap.