What Actually Happens in ICE Detention

About this episode

The episode discusses the mistreatment of immigrants in ICE detention facilities and features interviews with legal and immigration experts.

A new chapter of ICE terror has begun, but instead of taking place on the street—where agents are held accountable by protesters and their phones—mistreatment and coercion is now happening behind the closed doors of ICE detention facilities. These private prisons are operated by a company with close ties to the Trump administration, and have such abominable conditions that detainees at several facilities are waging hunger strikes. To get an idea of the mistreatment immigrants are facing, Alex speaks with Melissa Shepard, an attorney with Immigration Defenders Law Center, whose clients are given dirty water and spoiled food, retaliated against for participating in hunger strikes, and endlessly pressured to self deport. Then, she puts it all into context with Caitlin Dickerson, an immigration reporter at The Atlantic who recently embedded in Honduras to interview deportees from the U.S.

People in this episode

Host: Alex Wagner

Guests: Melissa Shepard, Caitlin Dickerson

Topics covered

• ICE detention
• immigration
• human rights
• hunger strikes
• deportation
• private prisons

Keywords

• ICE
• detention
• immigrants
• hunger strikes
• Trump administration
• private prisons
• deportees

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Immigration Defenders Law Center, The Atlantic

Places: Honduras, U.S.

More episodes of Runaway Country with Alex Wagner

• Grifter in Chief · June 11, 2026 · 1h 6m
• Election Chaos: Texas Republicans vs California Dems · May 28, 2026 · 1h 17m
• The Emperor’s New Slush Fund · May 21, 2026 · 1h 15m
• GOP Gerrymanders Are Burning Down the House · May 14, 2026 · 1h 5m
• Trump’s Perverted Justice · May 7, 2026 · 1h 10m
• The President and The Press · April 30, 2026 · 1h 19m