“A Ticking Bomb”: Congressman Davis Visits ICE Facility Accused of Human Rights Violations
As CoreCivic rakes in federal contracts, detainees at its Georgia facility report exploitation, solitary confinement, and preventable deaths.
WASHINGTON — Rep. Don Davis, D-N.C., will visit the ICE Stewart Detention Center this Thursday, April 24, for a closed-door tour of the facility from 11:00 a.m. to 1:15 p.m., Migrant Insider has confirmed. The trip marks the congressman’s third immigration detention center visit of 2025, following earlier tours of the Alamance County Detention Center in North Carolina and Naval Station Guantanamo Bay.
The visit comes as Stewart — operated by private prison giant CoreCivic — faces renewed scrutiny from civil rights groups, watchdog organizations, and lawmakers. Critics cite a long history of alleged human rights violations at the facility, including substandard medical care linked to multiple detainee deaths, prolonged use of solitary confinement, widespread health hazards like mold infestations, and allegations of sexual abuse and forced labor.
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A 2023 petition signed by detainees described conditions at Stewart as abusive and dangerous, with some reporting vision loss due to poor sanitation and toxic exposure. The Southern Poverty Law Center has previously called the facility a “ticking bomb,” citing chronic understaffing and safety risks.
CoreCivic, which earned over $1.8 billion in 2023—much of it from federal contracts—has been accused of prioritizing profits over safety and transparency. A 2018 whistleblower complaint detailed falsified medical records and systematic neglect at one of the company’s Arizona facilities. The company has also spent millions lobbying for harsher immigration laws that would boost detention profits.
ICE itself is under fire for expanding migrant detention capacity and pushing enforcement tactics that civil liberties advocates argue violate due process and human rights. Critics say the agency operates with limited oversight while enforcing politically motivated migrant detention quotas.
Davis, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, says the trip is part of a broader effort to map the journey a detainee might take from apprehension in eastern North Carolina to federal detention in facilities like Stewart. He has framed these visits as a fact-finding mission to inform his legislative work on border and national security, especially amid concerns about fentanyl trafficking across U.S. borders.
In March, Davis joined a bipartisan delegation to Guantanamo Bay, where the Trump administration is reportedly considering the expansion of migrant detention capacity. “Understanding the deportation process firsthand is crucial for informing my decisions,” Davis said after that visit.
Davis has introduced two bipartisan bills—the BEST Act and the MAP Act—aimed at bolstering security at ports of entry and combating the flow of counterfeit drugs, including fentanyl, into the U.S.
While Davis has not publicly commented on Stewart specifically, Thursday’s visit is expected to draw fresh attention to ICE’s reliance on private contractors and to the broader debate about the ethics and efficacy of mass detention as a cornerstone of U.S. immigration enforcement.