Exhibit #693,432 for why "more inspections of ICE detention facilities" ain't it: a tirade (oops I mean thread) https://twitter.com/DHSOIG/status/1280540854944509957

Background: in Oct and Nov 2018, after the death of Amar Mergansana at #NWDC, @GovInslee wrote DHS demanding "immediate, independent investigation of health+safety conditions," incl of "inadequate access to healthcare for detainees." (Thanks, Gov!)

@RepJayapal @RepAdamSmith @MariaCantwell also wrote asking DHS-OIG to take "a close look at... solitary confinement + other reported abuses at NWDC that have impacted the health, safety + legal rts of indivs held in the facility." (Thanks!)

Today's report reveals DHS-OIG conducted an unannounced inspection of #NWDC in Mar 2019. (Great!) So after 18 months of research, is there useful data here? Not really. Even the most cursory review of academic research on corporate social responsibility could've predicted this:

inspections like this typically focus on a checklist of quantifiable measures of compliance with official standards, but can miss evidence of systematic abuse. Human rights research must dig deeper.
Check out @uwchr's work: https://jsis.washington.edu/humanrights/projects/human-rights-at-home/conditions-at-the-northwest-detention-center/

For example: today's OIG report notes GEO overuses restraints when transporting ppl from solitary cells to showers. Ok. But what about 21 attempted suicides at #NWDC in ~4 yrs? Many in solitary; 1 lethal. Inspectors had full access to NWDC records + staff but didn't ask abt this?

Why didn't OIG follow up on the info it received about a man who spent 1 yr in a psych hospital before he got to #NWDC, yet NWDC docs somehow didn't notice he was mentally ill + high suicide risk? He cycled in + out of solitary, on + off suicide watch for months w/o treatment:

This ICE doc describes one of many incidents this man experienced: after GEO staff determined he was suicidal, he lay down rather than taking off clothes; so they called in a hostage negotiations team (!) + when that didn't work, pepper-sprayed him until he "became compliant."

Or another example: OIG report notes that #NWDC staff sometimes didn't respond to grievances w/in 5 days as req'd. Ok. But inspectors say nothing abt pattern of responding "not a grievance" to legit complaints, like this man's attempt to get care for his kidney cancer

What's the point of an inspection that notes timeliness, but not content, of responses to ppl's need for medical care? And that concludes with ICE's response that it will further monitor itself by now conducting a series of "Special Assessment Reviews"?

So @GovInslee @RepAdamSmith @RepJayapal @MariaCantwell what's your next step to follow up on the concerns you so strongly expressed in 2018-19? The inspections report you demanded (thank you!) is here. But there's no real reason to believe ppl at #NWDC are any safer as a result.