Stories

Detention isn't a statistic. It's a day in someone's life.

Read the accounts. Understand their context. Follow the original reporting. These experiences are why Neighbors Not Numbers organizes for dignity, accountability and abolition.

People sit behind chain-link fencing in an immigration detention facility. — Context photograph from the site’s image collection. It does not identify the people or facilities in the accounts below.

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Sources and how to share

A school day, interrupted.

“I don’t want to be in this place, I want to go to my school.”

Read Mia’s letter in its original context. A short excerpt is an invitation to listen; it cannot stand in for her whole experience.

The age and detention duration describe the published account, not a live custody update.

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ProPublica · February 9, 2026 · Letters from children

The basic things no one should have to ask for.

“When we asked the guards for more [menstrual] pads, we were denied.”

V.R.A. described women sharing menstrual supplies when guards would not provide more. Her statement appears in a collection of accounts from Border Patrol holding cells, covering basic hygiene, overcrowding and access to care.

This historical account concerns CBP, a separate agency from ICE. Initials follow the source’s identification.

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American Immigration Council · Detainee declarations · PDF, page 4

Fear, and unanswered questions.

“Someone died. I heard a lot of screaming.”

This account appears in Amnesty’s examination of medical neglect and reported deaths. The report preserves the distinction between what a person described and what investigators could establish.

Amnesty could not independently verify the reported death. This excerpt is testimony, not confirmation of a death.

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Amnesty International · December 4, 2025 · Report, page 36

Care that people could not count on.

People interviewed by Amnesty reported inadequate medical treatment, overcrowding and difficulty reaching legal counsel. Researchers also witnessed a guard strike a man’s injured hand with a metal door flap. Their findings connect individual accounts with documented conditions inside the facility.

This is a summary of published findings, not a quotation or a claim about every person held there.

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Amnesty International · December 4, 2025 · Research findings

People seated behind fencing, with foil blankets visible on the floor. — Inside a holding facility. Context image; no connection to a particular testimony is asserted.

A crowded group of people seated inside a fenced holding area. — Crowded holding conditions. Context image; location and date are not established here.

Detention isn't a statistic. It's a day in someone's life.

A school day, interrupted.

The basic things no one should have to ask for.

Fear, and unanswered questions.

Care that people could not count on.

Listen closely. Share accurately.