Solitary Watch has updated the ninth in our series of fact sheets, which offer facts, analysis, and resources on a variety of topics related to solitary confinement in U.S. prisons, jails, and immigrant and juvenile facilities. This fact sheet, titled “Solitary Confinement in Immigrant Detention,” was written by Solitary Watch Editorial and Project Assistant Francisco Rodriguez, who this week also authored an article on the topic co-published by Solitary Watch and The Nation.

As the fact sheet states: “Solitary confinement is widely used on migrants at Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention centers across the country, often violating international human rights standards and even the U.S. government’s own policies. The practice is used as a method of control and punishment and is frequently applied arbitrarily. This not only enables physical abuse and racial discrimination against detainees, but also causes or worsens mental health damage, often leading to lifelong trauma or even suicide. Though ICE has employed solitary for years, its use has skyrocketed under the second Trump administration.”

All existing fact sheets can be found together on this page. Fact sheets are designed to be accessed online and also printed out and copied for use by educators, advocates, policymakers, and others. The series currently includes the following facts sheets, with more still to come:

• Racism and Solitary Confinement
• Collateral Consequences of Solitary Confinement
• Psychological Effect of Solitary Confinement
• Solitary Confinement and Prison Safety
• Solitary Confinement and the Brain: The Neurological Effects
• Solitary Confinement and Prison Oversight
• Children in Solitary Confinement
• Women in Solitary Confinement
• Solitary Confinement in Immigrant Detention
• Solitary Confinement and Prison Activism
• The High Cost of Solitary Confinement
• LGBTQ+ People in Solitary Confinement