ATLANTA — Today, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) is mourning the tragic death of Jaspal Singh, a 57-year-old man from India detained at the Folkston ICE Processing Center, an immigration detention center in Folkston, Ga. run by the GEO Group, one of the largest private prison operators in the country.

“We are horrified by the loss of Jaspal Singh while in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the GEO Group,” said Maura Finn, senior lead attorney, Southern Poverty Law Center. “Our hearts go out to his family and loved ones as they face this cruel injustice.”

“Despite longstanding and well-documented human rights abuses, Congress continues to expand the number of beds in immigrant detention and direct millions of taxpayer dollars towards this inhumane system. Singh’s death is another reminder of the barbaric conditions that color our country’s broken immigration system. As politicians wield immigration as a wedge issue to score political points, Black and Brown migrants are dying in detention facilities handed over to the for-profit private prison industry,” continued Finn.

“We urge the public and federal and state leaders to end the costly and unnecessary detention of immigrants in favor of a more welcoming, sensible and humane immigration process,” concluded Finn.

Over the years, there have been numerous complaints and reports to the federal government that document widespread abuse and neglect in immigrant detention centers across Georgia, including Folkston. The complaints describe forced labor practices, physical violence against detained people, punitive use of solitary confinement, a lack of protections from sexual assault and deaths.