US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) placed more than 10,500 people in solitary confinement between April 2024 and May 2025, with use of the practice rising sharply under Donald Trump’s administration, according to new research published on Wednesday.
The report, compiled by Physicians for Human Rights, the Peeler Immigration Lab, and Harvard Law School experts, highlights a 6.5% average monthly increase in solitary confinement during Trump’s first four months in office—more than six times the rate seen under Joe Biden. The number of vulnerable detainees placed in isolation, including those with health or mental health conditions, rose by 56% in fiscal year 2025 compared with 2022, and their placements lasted twice as long.
The United Nations defines solitary confinement as keeping people in small cells without meaningful human contact for at least 22 hours a day, and considers it psychological torture when exceeding 15 days. The report notes that almost three-quarters of placements in New England facilities lasted 15 days or longer, with an average isolation period of about one month.
Researchers warn that the true scale is likely understated due to ICE’s flawed data systems. The findings come as Trump’s mass deportation agenda expands detention capacity, with $170bn allocated for immigration enforcement under the ‘big, beautiful bill’ signed in July. The authors describe the expansion as creating conditions for ‘catastrophic human rights violations on an unprecedented scale’.
