Don Beyer Decries Rotten Food and Retaliation in ICE Detention Center (Exclusive)

Congressman condemns retaliatory threats after detainees served unsafe food with worms, promising direct intervention and tougher oversight.

WASHINGTON — Virginia Congressman Don Beyer is demanding immediate action following disturbing reports that people detained at the Farmville Detention Center were served rotten food containing worms and then faced retaliation when they raised concerns about these unsafe conditions.

In an exclusive statement to Migrant Insider, the Northern Virginia Democrat confirmed that late last week his office became aware of incidents at the facility involving both “unsafe food and retaliation against detainees who raised concerns about it.”

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“I have heard reports of both unsafe food and retaliation against detainees who raised concerns about it at the Farmville Detention Center, which if true are horrifying and unacceptable,” Beyer said. “I will raise the matter directly with officials at the facility.”

The congressman emphasized that detention facilities are legally obligated to meet basic minimum standards, including providing safe food, clean living conditions, and proper medical care—concerns he has raised repeatedly this year during multiple facility visits.

A Pattern of Abuse at Farmville

On October 19, people detained at Farmville reported discovering worms in their food. When detainees refused to eat all three meals the following day out of concern for their health and safety, staff threatened to remove their access to the commissary, according to reports from advocacy groups.[1][2]

This disturbing incident echoes a similar episode from February 2015, when detainees also found white worms in their food at Farmville. At that time, those who complained were brutalized with pepper spray and physical violence, and the facility operator issued threats of prosecution against complainants. A 2015 Contract Discrepancy Report found that Immigration Centers of America “violated standards which state that disciplinary actions cannot be retaliatory.”

Currently detained individuals told the Free Them All VA Coalition that food at the facility is prepared once every four days and mixed with both fresh food and leftovers, with inadequate refrigeration practices. One man reported discovering worms only after he had already eaten his dinner. “The situation scared us. Once we noticed that there were worms in several other people’s food, I felt sick. I had eaten worms,” he said.

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Beyer’s Long Record as Immigration Ally

Beyer, who represents Virginia’s 8th Congressional District encompassing Arlington, Alexandria, Falls Church, and parts of Fairfax County, has established himself as one of the most vocal congressional advocates for immigrant rights over his six terms in office.

The congressman has consistently supported comprehensive immigration reform, including co-sponsoring the U.S. Citizenship Act, which creates an earned pathway to citizenship, and the American Dream and Promise Act, which provides legal status for Dreamers. He voted for landmark legislation in 2021 that would have provided pathways to citizenship for undocumented immigrants and TPS holders.

Beyer has also taken direct action to provide oversight of detention facilities. In August 2025, he visited the Farmville Detention Center itself, where he described “an enormous medical burden” at the facility, which he said has only one physician and is struggling to recruit nurses. During that visit, he met with detainees who had been kept in solitary confinement, experienced mental health crises, and faced long delays in accessing crucial medical treatment.

Just last month, in September 2025, Beyer joined Senator Mark Warner and Representatives Suhas Subramanyam and James Walkinshaw on an oversight visit to the ICE field office in Chantilly, Virginia, after reports of troubling conditions and overcrowding at the facility. The lawmakers noted that “ICE field offices are not designed or equipped to safely hold individuals for more than 12 hours.”

Beyer has also introduced legislation to increase safety and accountability in immigration enforcement. In May 2025, he co-introduced the ICE Visibility Act, which would require Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers to wear visible and distinct uniforms during most interactions with the public. He has also been a vocal advocate for his constituents detained by ICE, including Georgetown postdoctoral fellow Dr. Badar Khan Suri, whom Beyer fought to have released from detention in Texas earlier this year.

The congressman has supported the Protecting Sensitive Locations Act, which would prohibit ICE enforcement at schools, hospitals, places of worship, and other sensitive locations.[

Ongoing Concerns About Medical Care and Facility Operations

In his statement to Migrant Insider, Beyer highlighted medical care as a “major concern” he raised after visiting Farmville earlier this year. He also referenced concerns about “unsanitary and inhumane conditions” that prompted his visit with colleagues to the Chantilly facility last month.

The Farmville Detention Center, located in Prince Edward County, Virginia, was acquired by CoreCivic—one of the nation’s largest private prison companies—in July 2025 for $67 million. The 736-bed facility operates under a contract with ICE that expires in March 2029 and is expected to generate approximately $40 million in annual revenue for CoreCivic.[

Despite Beyer’s initial optimism that CoreCivic’s takeover might improve conditions, advocacy groups warned that the change in ownership would not address systemic problems. Those warnings now appear prescient.

A recently deported community member’s wife described the devastating conditions her husband experienced: “He was in a place called Farmville. The conditions inside the detention center were destroying my husband’s mental health. I heard about the overcrowded cells with broken toilets, lights on 24/7, expired food, some detainees lacking access to water, and freezing temperatures.”

Shutdown Compounds Oversight Challenges

In his statement, Beyer also called attention to how the ongoing Republican-led government shutdown is undermining detention oversight efforts.

“In the meantime, we need to get detention oversight personnel who were furloughed as part of the ongoing Republican shutdown back on the job as soon as possible, especially given the abuses to which detainees have been subjected under the current administration,” he said.

The federal government has been shut down for more than three weeks, with Republicans and Democrats in a standoff over healthcare subsidies and federal spending. The shutdown has resulted in furloughs and layoffs of federal workers, including those responsible for oversight functions.

Advocates Demand Closure

The Free Them All VA Coalition issued a statement calling the latest incident “the latest example of abuse in Farmville’s long and troubling history, where members of our community are treated as less than human.”

“For over a decade, Farmville has been plagued by systemic cruelty, neglect, and retaliation,” the coalition said. “Let’s be clear: ICE is motivated only by its mission to terrorize immigrants and separate families, while CoreCivic is motivated by its relentless pursuit of profit and shareholder value. To end this cycle of abuse, we demand the immediate closure of Farmville and the release of community members to return to the safety of their homes here in the United States.”

Beyer concluded his statement by emphasizing the need for broader systemic change: “I will continue to work with my colleagues to provide oversight of the conditions at these institutions, and to achieve the larger systemic reforms we need to address both our broken immigration system.”

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