Simon’s testimony

Simon sent a letter about his experiences in Farmville Detention Center to the Office of the Inspector General under the Department of Homeland Security in March 2026.*

My name is Simon*, and I’ve been detained at the Farmville Detention Center for 11 months. I am writing to report the conditions I have experienced here in hopes that your office will investigate ICE’s and CoreCivic’s mistreatment of me and other immigrants at this facility.

Medical Care

ICE and CoreCivic have failed to provide me with adequate medical care. I suffer from recurrent shoulder dislocation, a condition that causes severe pain every time my shoulder comes out of its joint. Since June 2025, I have been requesting medical attention for this condition. My requests were ignored. I have not received any medicine, nor treatment. I am required to receive such medical care under the PBNDS.

Around October 2025, my shoulder dislocated once again. This time, I fainted due to the pain. Instead of helping me, the guards put chains around my ankles, waist, and wrists. I did not understand what was happening. I asked them where they were taking me, but nobody answered. I resisted because I was scared, so they removed the restraints and brought me back to my dorm. I later learned they were planning to transport me to an outside hospital. If they had simply told me that, I would have gone willingly. All they needed to do was communicate. I speak English.

A few weeks later, my shoulder dislocated again. I requested help again and begged them to take me to a hospital. Instead, CoreCivic put me in a room used for people on suicide watch. I was alone in the room, in immense amount of pain without any painkillers, and I passed out again. I woke up to a detention center nurse kicking my head with her foot. I was locked up in that room for three days. While staying there, I had no access to bathroom. It was clearly a punishment for seeking medical help for my shoulder pain. I filed a complaint to the Office of Inspector General for that incident by calling the hotline. But nothing happened. I received no response. After that day, I was only given Tylenol, even though CoreCivic knew that it does not help with my pain. Instead of taking Tylenol, I took a hot shower to alleviate the pain. What I needed was a physician to treat my ongoing shoulder injury. CoreCivic later informed me that it did not have the authority to transport me to an outside hospital because it needed a doctor’s approval to do so. Because the detention center doctor only works during the weekdays and this incident occurred on Friday night, CoreCivic did not have a doctor to attend my pain or approve transporting me to an outside hospital. However, the doctor at the detention center had recommended that I be seen by outside hospital back in around June 2025, but ICE did not approve it.

Later, the detention center doctor recommended again that I be seen by outside hospital, but I was told that ICE did not approve it. Meanwhile, even seeing the detention center doctor requires five or six written requests and two or three months of waiting. It does not matter if it is an emergency.

They forget my requests. I have to keep track of each request number myself and remind them. Eventually, I stopped reporting my shoulder pain because nothing was being done.

I remain in immense pain. CoreCivic and ICE have known about my dislocated shoulder since June 2025, and they have yet to address it. This is irreparable harm. I may become permanently disabled due to CoreCivic and ICE’s ongoing failure to address my injury. Dislocated shoulders are not injuries that heal on their own. However, dislocated shoulders are relatively easy for qualified medical professionals to repair. If the injury goes on unaddressed, I will suffer permanent ligament and cartilage damage, nerve damage, and may trigger early-onset arthritis. Furthermore, I will forever have mobility problems, hampering my lifetime earnings and ability to provide for myself and my family.

Other types of medical care are hard to access as well. Want to see a dentist? Wait two months. Want to see a mental health provider? Wait five months. Access to medical services is extremely limited inside here. The only thing we can do is suffer.

I also developed eczema after arriving at this facility. Many detainees here develop skin conditions. CoreCivic does not provide medical cream in a timely manner.

Condition of Confinement

The conditions in this facility are dire. When I was in the general population area, the building had a tin roof with no insulation. During winter, it was freezing. We were given one blanket. There was no adequate heating. People were shivering.

The general population area held around 100 detainees. It felt like I was in a chicken farm. We shared six toilets. Each week, we received two rolls of toilet paper each. There was no clean drinking water available, so we had to drink from the toilet. Sometimes, the water ran yellow from rust. The shower and toilet areas have barely any coverage. Guards can see us while we shower and use the bathroom.

After I was moved to protective custody, I experienced an incident that violated my human dignity. On February 4, 2026, one of the guards got caught staring at me five times, each at least a minute long, while I was showering. I filed a complaint, which the detention center acknowledged to be genuine. However, instead of proposing a solution, they asked me, “So what do you want us to do?”

The dorm I was initially placed in was designated for detainees with criminal records. I do not have criminal record. I did not feel safe. People were violent, and the guards only acted when they witnessed violence firsthand. Bullying and threats behind closed doors were ignored. I had to stay invisible to survive.

Solitary Confinement

Because I did not feel safe in the dorm with detainees who were violent, I asked to be moved to another dorm, one that was not designated for people with criminal record. The detention center refused my request. Instead, they put me in protective custody, which is solitary confinement.

I have been in solitary confinement for approximately 3 months. I am locked in a small cell 22 hours a day, 7 days a week. I cannot interact with other people. I cannot play chess, exercise, or do any physical activity outside of my small cell. I have no outdoor recreation time. Despite CoreCivic’s policy on mandatory routine outdoor recreation time, I have been outside only once during my 3 months of solitary confinement. The only time I leave my cell is for two hours in the evening, between 8:00 PM and 10:30 PM, to use the common area. But we use it in shifts, so I am still alone. For 3 months, I have had virtually no human interaction.

In solitary confinement, I also cannot work nor go to church for my religious practice, depriving me of my right to religious freedom. When I was in general population, I had a job. Here, there is nothing. No work, no recreation, no socialization. As like in general population, the small cell does not have clean drinking water, leaving me with no choice but to drink rusty toilet water. I’m still locked up in a small cell with a light that is too bright.

Staff Conduct

Guards threaten and intimidate detainees regularly. They threaten to send people to “the hole,” a dark room with no phone, no tablet, no microwave, and no contact with anyone. People are kept in the “hole” for 60 to 70 days at a time, depending on the violation. It is used as a tool of mental punishment.

Threats come daily and without warning. Guards say things like, “If you don’t get to your cell in time, we’ll send you to the hole.” “If you cover your light, we’ll send you to the hole.” It creates an atmosphere of constant fear.

The deportation officer is supposed to visit detainees regularly. But they never came to see me. Since April 2025, I have submitted many requests to meet with them in person. First weekly, then monthly. No response. I have never seen my deportation officer. I eventually stopped submitting requests.

Food

The food at this facility is not fit for human consumption. Fish patties smell rotten and taste nothing like fish. Rice is sometimes undercooked. Hot dogs are tiny. We receive chicken only twice a week, on Tuesdays and Fridays. We are barely given any vegetables, boiled carrots at most. The food is highly processed.

I was raised in a Rohingya Muslim household and do not eat pork for cultural reasons, even though I am Christian. The Rohingya are an entire ethnolinguistic group, with a distinct culture. While most Rohingya are Muslim, some (like me) are not. Nevertheless, most or all Rohingya do not eat pork. Therefore, I have requested several times for dietary accommodation, but the detention center responded that they cannot change my meal plan because I am listed as Christian. This response fails to understand my ethnic background and culture. Separately, CoreCivic often claims that the food they serve us contains no pork, but I can taste it. Approximately 80% of the food they serve does not align with my dietary needs, so I cannot eat it. I am not served nutritious food as required under the PBNDS.

Conclusion

I have filed complaints. Nothing happened. I have submitted requests. Nothing happened. I have especially written multiple grievances regarding my continuous shoulder pain via tablet and paper, but they stopped responding to my grievances since around December 2025. I feel like I am talking to a wall. The grievance process here exists on paper, but in practice, it leads to nowhere.

I am asking the Office of Inspector General to investigate the conditions at the Farmville Detention Center. I am asking to be transferred to a facility where I can receive proper medical treatment for my shoulder, where I am not placed in solitary confinement for requesting basic safety, and where I am treated with a minimum of human dignity.

I want to be clear. I am not asking for special treatment. I am asking to be treated like a human being.

Sincerely,

Simon*

*Names have been changed to protect confidentiality.