Lawmakers and civil rights groups in Michigan are demanding an independent investigation of the North Lake Processing Center in Baldwin. The initiative came after immigrants under custody in the privately operated ICE facility launched a hunger and labor strike to protest what advocates described as medical neglect, inadequate food, and prolonged detention.
The ACLU of Michigan and the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center called on Congress to require an independent investigation of North Lake, including a medical audit, an oversight visit, and a formal inquiry to ICE. The groups said they have been in contact with detainees who described "similar inhumane conditions" over the 10 months since the facility opened as an ICE detention center.
"This includes life-threatening delays and denials of care, lack of follow-up care after hospitalization, and denial of prescription drugs or requiring payment in order to receive necessary medications," the ACLU said in a statement quoted by CBS News Detroit. "Some have described witnessing people in severe medical distress or collapsing and having to beg staff, sometimes for hours, to provide medical care."
Rep. Delia Ramirez, D-Ill., who reposted a Chicago Tribune report about the strike and wrote that she stood "in solidarity with the hundreds of immigrants detained at the ICE North Lake facility" who were denouncing "medical neglect and inhumane conditions in ICE detention."
The situation at the North Lake Processing Center
On Dec. 15, a 56-year-old Bulgarian national identified as Nenko Stanev Gantchev died on Dec. 15 at the North Lake Processing Center in Baldwin. The facility is operated by the private prison company Geo Group.
No Detention Centers said the facility has held more than 1,000 people since reopening in June 2025 as the largest ICE detention center in the Midwest. The coalition also said North Lake had a previous history of hunger strikes when GEO operated it as an immigrant-only federal prison.
The protest began a week ago, according to No Detention Centers in Michigan, a statewide coalition that said men held in multiple units at the GEO Group-run facility had chosen to refuse food. The group said detainees were protesting "dangerous conditions, a lack of adequate food and medical care, and cruel legal obstacles" that have kept many in custody with no clear end date.
"We demand competent doctors, better medical care, the food here is absolute garbage, and, above all, an end to the procedural delays we are suffering through inside these walls," one detained immigrant said in a translated statement released by the group. "We are being held prisoner arbitrarily."
Loren Khogali, executive director of the ACLU of Michigan, said the organization had opposed the reopening of North Lake because of fears about detention conditions. "North Lake's conditions and practices fall dangerously short of both constitutional mandates and federal standards, and we are calling for an immediate independent investigation," Khogali said.
The Department of Homeland Security disputed the allegations.
A DHS spokesperson told CBS News Detroit that "there is no hunger strike" at the Baldwin facility and said claims of poor conditions were false. "All detainees are provided with 3 meals a day, clean water, clothing, bedding, showers, soap, and toiletries," the spokesperson said. DHS also said ICE provides "medical, dental, and mental health services as available, and access to medical appointments and 24-hour emergency care."
Miriam Aukerman, the ACLU's director of strategic litigation, said the detention complaints are also tied to bond denials and access to fair hearings. "This sudden, unexplained spike in bond denial rates raises questions about whether noncitizens are getting fair hearings," Aukerman said.
Susan Reed, director of the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center, said immigration detention in Michigan has increased sharply. "Detained people seeking legal assistance share their stories with us every day, and we are gravely concerned about the safety and wellbeing of the people held by the government," Reed said. "We urge immediate action to improve conditions and release the many who are detained needlessly."
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