Officer at Texas ICE Facility Faces Federal Charges for Allegedly Choking Handcuffed Detainee

A private security officer at a Texas immigrant detention center ran by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has been charged for allegedly choking a handcuffed detainee.

Charles Siringi, 66, was charged with deprivation of rights under color of law resulting in bodily injury following a March 31 incident at the Montgomery Processing Center in Conroe, Texas.

According to a federal criminal complaint obtained by The Washington Post, Siringi placed his hands around a detainee's neck, slammed him against a wall, and continued to apply pressure until the man gasped for air. A fellow officer who witnessed the incident, Elbert Griffin, escorted the detainee to the medical unit and later stated the use of force was unwarranted and that the detainee had not resisted.

Siringi, who worked for GEO Group, the private company operating the facility, was released on $10,000 bail. The company said it terminated his employment on April 29 and referred the case to ICE's Office of Professional Responsibility. "We have a zero-tolerance policy with respect to staff misconduct," GEO Group said in a statement obtained by The Post.

Criminal prosecutions of detention officers are rare. "The power dynamic is so significant that people are either afraid to come forth or they are not believed when they raise complaints about abusive treatment," said Eunice Hyunhye Cho of the ACLU's National Prison Project.

The incident adds to a series of troubling reports concerning ICE facilities nationwide.

Earlier this month, two immigrant rights organizations filed a federal class action lawsuit against ICE, alleging unconstitutional conditions at the George Fallon Federal Building in Baltimore. The suit claims that two women were held in holding rooms for 48 and 60 hours—far exceeding the 12-hour limit—with no access to beds, showers, or adequate food. A Senate staff visit corroborated these allegations.

Separately, the deaths of four individuals in ICE custody in Florida since December 2024 have drawn criticism over medical care in detention. In one case, a Ukrainian refugee suffered a fatal stroke after staff at the Krome North Service Processing Center delayed emergency response. Another detainee, a Honduran man, died amid seizures and questionable drug treatment.

Advocates say these cases reflect systemic failures in ICE detention oversight. "A lot of people don't realize how common that actually is," said Jeff Migliozzi of Freedom for Immigrants. "In the vast majority of those cases, nothing results."