By Keith Senkow
The United States publicly champions freedom, democracy, and human rights. It signs treaties, funds global human rights initiatives, and routinely criticizes other countries for violations. But within its own borders, especially in the detention centers operated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the government is failing to uphold international legal obligations it has formally agreed to. The U.S. is not simply failing morally, it is in violation of binding international law.
International Human Rights Law and U.S. Obligations
The United States ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) in 1992. Under Article 10 of the ICCPR, “All persons deprived of their liberty shall be treated with humanity and with respect for the inherent dignity of the human person.” Article 10.3 further mandates that the goal of imprisonment should be reformation and rehabilitation—not indefinite civil detention for individuals who have committed no crime.
The U.S. also joined the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT), ratified in 1994. While the U.S. limited the definition of cruel and inhuman treatment to align with the Fifth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendments, it remains bound to prevent inhumane conditions in detention.
These treaties are not just words. Under the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution, ratified treaties are part of "the supreme Law of the Land." Violating these international agreements is therefore a violation of U.S. federal law.
ICE’s Mission and Its Contradictions
ICE was created in 2003 under the Department of Homeland Security with the stated mission of protecting national security, preventing terrorism, and enforcing federal immigration laws. In theory, the agency is intended to identify and remove individuals who pose a threat to public safety or national interests. These goals reflect legitimate concerns shared by many nations and should not be dismissed outright. Any sovereign state has the right to secure its borders and enforce immigration laws. However, enforcement must be lawful, proportional, and respectful of human rights. National security cannot become a justification for cruelty, nor should it be used to excuse systemic violations of dignity and due process.
As reported by Reuters, internal pressures from the White House have shifted ICE’s focus toward arrest quotas over criminal threat: “The message was ‘all about the numbers, not the level of criminality.’” Today, ICE agents are not primarily arresting violent criminals. According to a former ICE official, making arrest quotas requires going to day laborer sites and detaining anyone who appears undocumented, regardless of criminal history. This practice contradicts the ICCPR's principle of proportionality and dignity in detention.
Violations of Dignity and Safety in Detention
Conditions inside ICE detention facilities violate both international and constitutional standards. At a facility in Los Angeles, detainees were reportedly so dehydrated that they drank from toilets. In Florida’s “Alligator Alcatraz,” migrants lived in tents surrounded by flooding, extreme heat, mosquitoes, and backed-up portable toilets, with little access to medical care or legal support.
These inhumane conditions meet the threshold for "cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment" under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the Convention Against Torture (CAT). They also implicate the Eighth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which prohibits cruel and unusual punishment. The denial of clean water, safe shelter, sanitation, and healthcare amounts to unnecessary suffering, violating both domestic and international standards of humane treatment.
Constitutional Violations and Discriminatory Enforcement
The Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments guarantee due process and equal protection under the law. ICE’s practice of arresting individuals immediately after immigration court hearings, without allowing them access to legal counsel or the opportunity to assert their rights, undermines these protections. Arbitrary enforcement, especially when applied selectively to vulnerable immigrant populations, also raises equal protection concerns. The use of courthouse arrests and blanket denials of bond hearings removes individualized judicial discretion and bypasses legal safeguards, violating procedural fairness.
In one case, a Cuban asylum seeker known as Jenny was arrested by ICE agents just after her court hearing, despite having a scheduled follow-up appearance. In Gonzalez v. ICE, plaintiffs challenged the legality of courthouse arrests under the Administrative Procedure Act, arguing that such practices are arbitrary and capricious and infringe upon access to justice. A 2025 ICE memo revealed the agency had instructed prosecutors to deny bond hearings to all immigrants who entered the U.S. without inspection, removing one of the few procedural checks in the system.
These enforcement practices violate both constitutional protections and international standards under the ICCPR, which requires fair and humane legal procedures.
These are not abstract legal debates. They are questions about whether the United States is willing to apply the same constitutional principles to all people under its jurisdiction or only to those it deems worthy.
Broader Systemic Failures
ICE operates within a larger system that includes Border Patrol, private prison contractors, local law enforcement, and immigration courts. Together, this apparatus criminalizes migration and treats asylum seekers as threats rather than people seeking refuge. Practices like prolonged detention, family separation, and denying access to legal counsel violate the spirit and the letter of international human rights law.
Local Action and Global Accountability
Writing, organizing, and educating are acts of advocacy. Highlighting the work of local groups like Casa San José in Pittsburgh brings national and international issues home. Casa San José offers legal clinics, community defense, and sanctuary resources that protect immigrants on the ground.
Residents of Pittsburgh and beyond can contact officials like the next mayor of Pittsburgh and state legislators such as Emily Kinkead, La’Tasha Mayes, and Aerion Abney to demand oversight of ICE collaboration and advocate for sanctuary policies.
At the federal level, voters must demand that Congress hold ICE accountable and ensure that U.S. immigration enforcement aligns with the nation’s international commitments. Ratified treaties are not suggestions. They are binding law. Violations of those treaties are violations of U.S. law, human dignity, and the foundational values the nation claims to uphold.
The United States has ratified international treaties promising to protect the dignity and rights of all people in its custody. Those promises mean nothing without accountability. When our government breaks those promises by exposing detainees to flooding, illness, abuse, and legal isolation, it is our duty to resist.
Upholding human rights is not optional—it is the legal and moral obligation of a country that claims to stand for justice.
References
• AP News. (2025, June 28). A day outside an LA detention center shows profound impact of ICE raids on families. https://www.ap.org/news-highlights/spotlights/2025/a-day-outside-an-la-detention-center-shows-profound-impact-of-ice-raids-on-families
• Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. (n.d.). International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. United Nations. https://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/international-covenant-civil-and-political-rights
• Reuters. (2025, June 10). ICE’s tactics draw criticism as it triples daily arrest targets. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/ices-tactics-draw-criticism-it-triples-daily-arrest-targets-2025-06-10
• U.S. Senate. (1994). Reservations, understandings, and declarations to the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (Treaty Doc. 100-20). https://www.congress.gov/treaty-document/100th-congress/20
• Washington Post. (2025, July 16). Inside 'Alligator Alcatraz,' detainees report relentless mosquitoes, limited water. https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2025/07/16/alligator-alcatraz-conditions/
• Legal Information Institute. (n.d.). U.S. Constitution. Cornell Law School. https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution
• CBS News. (2025, July 14). ICE instructs prosecutors to deny bond hearings to undocumented immigrants. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ice-immigration-detention-bond-hearings/
• The Guardian. (2025, July 26). Cuban asylum seeker arrested by ICE after court hearing sparks legal backlash. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jul/26/cuba-asylum-seeker-ice-courtroom
• Reuters. (2025, July 15). Court challenges ICE courthouse arrests as arbitrary and unconstitutional. https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/court-challenges-ice-courthouse-arrests-2025-07-15