This is a video was of Lee Stinton, from was accosted by an ICE agent recently; he was told by the agent that he looked Mexican. He was from Lisburn, Northern Ireland, clarified this to the officer, and had his paperwork ready.
In short, he was ethnically profiled by ICE, which is evidently now perfectly legal.
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=799877505906685
“It was June 8, I think. It all started when I was on my way to work, which I did every day. . . I cycled every day and I was arrested by an ICE officer, and kind of kidnapped I guess, off the street and taken to the Chrome detention center. The conditions in Chrome were the most inhumane thing that I’ve ever experienced in my life had nowhere for anyone to sleep . . .
They weren’t feeding people, and they were very abusive to the admits. the holding cell. they us in for almost 8 days in a cell that was meant to have 10 people on it and there were at least 100 men. We were like sardines all just stuck on like a cold concrete floor.
I want people to know that it’s not just the criminals that are being taken; it’s like normal everyday people like me. Like I had like a correct visa, I had all my paperwork together, I had a Social Security number, I paid my taxes, I’ve never been in trouble with the police before either in America or in Northern Ireland. Still, they took me. I think they’re just looking for numbers at this point. There was a guy that had been asking for his medication for days for his heart, and when we were out in the rec yard he dropped out of a heart attack in front of everyone and they kind of just moved us all away from him but it’s something that I’m never ever going to forget you know, it’s ingrained in my head.”
Meanwhile, the U.S. Supreme Court (above whose front columns you will see the large inscription –– “Equal Justice Under Law”) has made it easier for ICE to conduct raids and sweeps that raise the risk of targeting lawful residents based on racial or ethnic profiling.
In a 6-3 vote in the case known as Vasquez Perdomo v. Noem, the Supreme Court in September of 2025 granted an emergency request from the Trump administration and temporarily halted a L.A. judge’s order that barred “roving patrols” from snatching people off California streets and questioning them based on how they look, what language they speak, what work they do, or even where they happen to be. Both a Los Angeles federal court and the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals had ruled that these actions amounted to illegal racial profiling.
The Supreme Court’s brief, unsigned order overturns those decisions. This gives immigration agents a “green light” to once again stop anyone they guess to be here illegally—even if a central reason for the stop was race. This endorses ICE and Border Patrol targeting any Latinos they observe in Los Angeles speaking Spanish or working in low-income jobs and then demanding their papers.
Justice Sotomayor, one of the three Justices who dissented, warned that the decision risked turning Latinos into second class citizens. In her words: “We should not have to live in a country where the Government can seize anyone who looks Latino, speaks Spanish, and appears to work a low wage job. Rather than stand idly by while our constitutional freedoms are lost, I dissent.”
Meanwhile, many of those targeted by ICE have no criminal records. Recent CBS News and Cato Institute reports document a dramatic increase since 2025 in ICE arrests and detentions of immigrants with no criminal record, including many whose only alleged offense is a civil immigration violation like unauthorized entry. Data shows that up to 71% of ICE detainees currently have no criminal conviction, and less than 10% have ever been convicted of a violent offense.
But most of themare treated just as Lee Stinton was treated. ICE detention centers have dramatically expanded, with more than 60,000 detainees as of fall 2025, often held in makeshift and overcrowded facilities such as the newly built “Alligator Alcatraz” in Florida. Reports consistently detail extreme heat, insufficient food and water, bug infestations, exposure to hazardous wildlife, lack of medical care, and unsanitary conditions, frequently resulting in detainee hunger strikes and complaints.
Human rights organizations and government reports reveal systemic failures to provide necessary medical care, with at least 22 deaths in ICE custody in fiscal year 2025—the highest level in 20 years. Accounts of suicide, delayed or denied access to medication, and an absence of medical professionals underscore the severity of neglect. Pregnant women, children, and vulnerable populations regularly suffer mistreatment, with credible reports of physical and sexual abuse, inadequate health services, and a surge in mental health crises, including higher rates of PTSD and suicide among detainees.
Many detainees have severely restricted or no access to legal counsel, and the rapid expansion of detention sites has led to legal challenges and calls for federal and state intervention. Civil rights workers warn that oversight and accountability have diminished, especially following layoffs inside the Department of Homeland Security.
These findings come from a broad base of organizations, including NPR, KFF, the Detention Watch Network, Physicians for Human Rights, the ACLU, Harvard medical experts, and Congressional investigations, as well as direct testimony from detainees and legal advocates. In sum, the available record shows that the inhumane treatment within ICE detention has intensified during the second Trump Administration, resulting in overcrowded facilities, medical neglect, cruel physical conditions, abusive psychological practices, and mounting preventable deaths—all widely condemned by human rights observers and involved lawmakers.
Karoline Leavitt, serving as White House Press Secretary, recently rejected allegations of inhumane treatment of illegal immigrants during a press briefing, stating she “would reject there was inhumane treatment of illegal immigrants in the United States under this administration,” and claimed that enforcement is being carried out “in the most humane way possible.
Let’s leave it at this: Ms. Leavitt (and Mr. Trump) do not always tell the truth, or the whole truth. And, even though it might be comforting to think “we are better than this,” at this point, that’s not a claim that is more likely true than false. Overall, ICE is within its “rights” to detain people based on their appearance, but it hardly seems right that it’s being done with considerable cruelty to many who are here illegally, and even to those who are here legally.