DHS says “illegal aliens” get best medical care of their lives in ICE detention, denies NYT report

DHS pushes back on medical care reports

On Feb. 17, 2026, the Department of Homeland Security fired back at a New York Times report alleging poor medical care inside ICE detention facilities.

Dr. Sean Conley, the DHS Chief Medical Officer and acting director of the Office of Health Security, called the claims false.

Conley said detainees receive timely and appropriate medical, dental, mental health, and emergency care from the moment they enter custody.

DHS also claimed this care surpasses what many detainees have ever received, though the agency offered no independent data to back that up.

DHS disputed specific cases by name

The Times reported that parents of an 18-month-old at a facility in Dilley, Texas, spent weeks begging staff to treat their child’s illness.

DHS countered that the child received prompt care and spent eight days at Methodist Children’s Hospital in San Antonio for a respiratory illness.

The Times also described a female detainee who was hemorrhaging and initially turned away by medical staff. DHS disputed that account and provided its own timeline of her visits.

In a third case involving a child with ear pain, DHS said the parent declined treatment after a provider spent more than 40 minutes discussing options.

Senate probe found over 1,000 abuse reports

Sen. Jon Ossoff of Georgia has led an investigation into ICE detention conditions since January 2025. By Jan. 12, 2026, his team had received or identified 1,037 credible reports of human rights abuses.

Ossoff released three reports over that span. The first, in August 2025, documented the mistreatment of pregnant women and children.

The second, in October 2025, found medical neglect and denial of food and water, including more than 80 credible cases of medical neglect. One detainee suffered a heart attack after days of untreated chest pain.

DHS dismissed the first report as an attempt to score political points.

VA stopped processing ICE medical claims

For more than two decades, ICE relied on the Department of Veterans Affairs to process medical payments for outside care. That arrangement ended abruptly on Oct. 3, 2025, after a right-wing nonprofit filed a lawsuit.

Government documents described the fallout as an “absolute emergency,” warning it could lead to medical complications or deaths.

ICE lost its system for paying for off-site dialysis, prenatal care, cancer treatment, and prescribed medications overnight.

A replacement contractor, Acentra Health, said it would not begin processing claims until at least April 30, 2026.

Unpaid claims may top $300 million

In 2024, the VA processed about $246 million in ICE medical claims. In 2025, despite an 82% jump in the detained population, the VA processed only about $157 million.

That gap points to roughly $300 million in care that went either unpaid or never provided.

An administration source told reporters that ICE’s failure to pay has led some medical providers to deny services to detainees altogether.

No third-party medical providers have received payment for detainee care since Oct. 3, 2025.

Detention deaths nearly tripled in 2025

At least 30 people died in ICE custody during 2025, the most in over 20 years.

Independent tallies from NPR, Axios, and WOLA put the number between 30 and 32, with NPR’s count including two victims of a shooting at a Texas facility.

That nearly tripled the 11 deaths recorded in 2024 and exceeded the 26 deaths across all four years of the Biden administration. The previous peak came in 2004, when 32 deaths were recorded.

December 2025 was the single deadliest month on record, and more deaths followed in early 2026, including at the Fort Bliss tent facility in El Paso, where an autopsy found one death was likely a homicide.

Federal judges ordered ICE to fix care

In February 2026, a federal judge ordered ICE to provide constitutionally adequate medical care at the California City Detention Facility, the largest immigration jail in California.

District Judge Maxine Chesney also ordered an independent monitor to inspect conditions, review medical records, and interview staff.

In a separate case, a federal judge in Washington state ordered the immediate release of a detainee whose ulcerative colitis was misdiagnosed. Delayed treatment led to a bone infection and partial foot amputation.

In December 2025, another federal court blocked DHS from barring unannounced congressional visits to detention facilities.

Health officers described chaos inside facilities

NPR reported that nearly 400 U.S. Public Health Service officers served month-long tours at ICE facilities in 2025.

NPR interviewed 12 current or former officers, and six said they planned to leave or had already resigned largely because of ICE deployments.

Officers described life-threatening delays in getting medication to detainees, chaotic intake screenings, and facilities packed to three times capacity while understaffed.

One nurse deployed to El Paso described two missions working against each other: ICE wanted to deport people quickly, while medical staff tried to make sure detainees received necessary care.

ICE detention population hit a record high

By mid-January 2026, ICE held about 73,000 people, the highest level in the agency’s 23-year history. That marked a roughly 84% increase from early 2025, when the detained population sat below 40,000.

ICE used more than 225 facilities nationwide, including local jails, federal prisons, military bases, and a tent structure at Fort Bliss. The agency opened or reopened more than 130 facilities in 2025 alone.

The expansion drew fuel from about $45 billion in detention funding included in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which passed in July 2025.

Congressman visited Brooklyn and challenged DHS claims

On Feb. 18, 2026, Rep. Dan Goldman of New York became the first member of Congress to visit the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn since ICE began housing immigrants there. Goldman found 191 ICE detainees held in two cell blocks.

DHS officials told Goldman that detainees had the same access to medical care and legal calls as criminal inmates.

Goldman said those assurances contradicted months of reports his office had received about the lack of medical care, delayed medication, and barriers to legal counsel.

A National Immigration Forum report found more than 3,500 people, over half of them minors, cycled through the Dilley facility DHS cited in its rebuttal, with about 300 children held longer than the 20-day limit set by the Flores Settlement.

What federal law actually requires

Federal law requires ICE to provide necessary medical care to everyone in its custody.

ICE’s own detention standards call for medical, dental, and mental health screening within 12 hours of arrival, a full health assessment within 14 days, and around-the-clock emergency care.

But CNN reported as recently as Feb. 23, 2026, that the claims processing collapse since October 2025 has made off-site care functionally out of reach.

Advocates said it remains unclear whether detainees can get access to outside doctors as needed. The DHS shutdown, which began Feb. 13 after funding lapsed, has added more uncertainty to oversight and operations.

Democrats in Congress have demanded autopsy reports, staffing data, and video footage related to detainee deaths. ICE has not publicly responded to those requests.

The dispute is far from over

DHS maintains that detainees receive comprehensive care and that media reports are false.

But congressional investigations, federal court rulings, and accounts from government medical professionals tell a different story.

The independent monitor ordered at California City, ongoing litigation, and continued Senate oversight may produce more findings in the coming months.

The medical claims processing system is not expected to come online before late April 2026 at the earliest.

With the detained population at record levels and facilities expanding fast, whether medical care can keep pace remains an open question.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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