During visits in recent months, Emelie says her husband, who was detained in Stewart until he was deported last month, described serious overpopulation. “He told me as soon as Trump took over, their mats rolled out in the halls. People slept there. ‘

Emelie is a pseudonym granted for privacy. She says the conditions have become a visible toll on her husband, who has lost weight, became more and more anxious and struggled to sleep in the midst of the noise and tension. He described that he had to wait long stretches between meals. When her husband came down with the flu and haunted a high fever, she says, he submitted several sick requests, but never received care. “He had Covid-19 once,” she says. ‘Same. People would be sick and just gone to get worse. ‘

“You don’t stand a chance at Stewart,” says Emelie, “it’s a death sentence for you and your family.”

When Todd was asked about overcrowding at Stewart, Todd told Wired: “Everyone in our care is offered a bed.” But three attorneys who regularly visit the facility said that their clients were sleeping on the floors or in plastic containers with thin carpets. Three family members of current and former detainees confirmed the accounts.

Corecivic did not respond when asked how it defines a ‘bed’.

Scurry to go

The consequences of overpopulation go far beyond Stewart.

“We see many more transfers suddenly and mad,” says Jeff Migliozzi, the director of communications for the non -profit freedom for immigrants, managing the national immigration withholding. “They scurry.” Hotline calls more than doubled from 700 in December to 1,600 in March. Many people are unanswered, says Migliozzi, because the lines are often too busy.

Shipping data obtained from these detention facilities across the US reflects the boom. Six of the ten facilities revised by Wired, at some point in 2025, experienced a sharp month-to-month increase in 911 calls, with emergency shipping more than tripled in certain cases. For example, nearly 80 emergency calls were placed from the remote ice processing center in South Texas between January and May. Logs show that the number of calls more than tripled in March, which rose from 10 in February to 31 years. In one week, distributors 11 have separate calls at the facility, managed by the Geo Group, one of the country’s largest profitable prison operators.

Migliozzi warns that an increase in 911 calls does not necessarily indicate worse conditions, but this can simply reflect an increasing population in detainee within an already serious system. Other experts noted that an increase in calls, hypothetically, may indicate that staff can call for help faster – although an inverse drop can be just as easy on delayed reactions, no fewer crises

Three of the seven 911 calls obtained by Wired with suicide attempts come from the South Texas Center: In February, a 36-year-old man swallowed 20 pills without a counter. In March, a 37-year-old detainee took up cleaning chemicals. Two weeks later, a 41-year-old man was found who cut himself.

Immigration detention is not supposed to be punishment, says Andriquez, vice president of advocacy at Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights. “But the conditions of incarceration in custody are so brutal,” he says, “that people attempted suicide while waiting in court on their day.”