Winnfield, LA, October 30, 2024 – After years of advocacy by immigrant rights groups, the Department of Homeland Security’s Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties (CRCL) has opened a new investigation into systemic abuse and inhumane conditions at Winn Correctional Center, a notorious immigration detention facility in Winnfield, Louisiana. The investigation will focus on excessive use of force by facility staff; physical and verbal misconduct; and inadequate conditions of detention related to environmental health and food service concerns.
Since 2021, CRCL has received 120 separate complaints of civil rights and civil liberties violations at Winn, including a January 2024 incident wherein ICE officers and facility staff violently attacked a dorm of approximately 200 people with pepper spray. As part of their investigation, CRCL will review six open cases that are representative of broader issues within the facility – including the pepper spray attack and an excessive force incident wherein ICE officers choked a detained person to the brink of unconsciousness.
“It’s heartbreaking seeing this number of complaints, but it proves that directly impacted immigrants and their families are no longer allowing this treatment to be hidden,” said Sarah Jones, member of the Southeast Dignity Not Detention Coalition.
“We are cautiously optimistic that CRCL will finally acknowledge the urgent issues we have highlighted for years,” said Tania Wolf, member of the Southeast Dignity Not Detention Coalition.“Winn Correctional Center has reached a point beyond reform and must be permanently closed. The Biden Administration and the Department of Homeland Security must publicly recognize the systemic abuses pervasive across all ICE facilities overseen by the New Orleans ICE Field Office, particularly at Winn. Renewing a contract to keep this facility operational will only perpetuate further human rights violations.”
“For years, we have worked with detained individuals to share their stories, submit complaints, and document the everyday horrors that have become commonplace at Winn,” said Sarah Decker, staff attorney at Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights. “With this investigation, CRCL is acknowledging that there is systemic abuse at Winn that remains unaddressed.”
According to a retention memo from September 2024, CRCL has already taken steps to begin its investigation.
About Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights
Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights is a nonpartisan, not-for-profit organization that has worked to realize Robert F. Kennedy’s dream of a more just and peaceful world since 1968. In partnership with local activists, we advocate for key human rights issues— championing change makers and pursuing strategic litigation at home and around the world. And to ensure change that lasts, we foster a social-good approach to business and investment and educate millions of students about human rights and social justice.
About the Southeast Dignity Not Detention Coalition The Southeast Dignity Not Detention Coalition is a powerful grassroots group of immigrants, legal advocates, organizers, and community activists working to end immigrant detention across the southeast U.S. beginning with closing all facilities overseen by the abuse-plagued New Orleans ICE Field Office.