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‘They're Not Breathing’: Inside the Chaos of ICE Detention Center 911 Calls

Records of hundreds of emergency calls from ICE detention centers obtained by WIRED—including audio recordings—show a system inundated by life-threatening incidents, delayed treatment, and overcrowding.

The 2025 emergency call data also reflects conditions before ICE’s latest enforcement surge—a May directive from Department of Homeland Security secretary Kristi Noem and White House adviser Stephen Miller to triple daily arrests. ICE has responded by offloading detainees into federal penitentiaries and tent-like barracks in detention camps, while issuing a wave of no-bid contracts —financial windfalls for private prison giants like The GEO Group and CoreCivic, which operate the vast majority of the facilities named in this report. Dispatch data from 911 calls reveal how quickly medical emergencies can spiral inside these remote, crowded facilities—places where urgent care delivery is often delayed, falls on overworked staff, or is hindered by “ insufficient or malfunctioning ” equipment.

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