Full Breakdown
Hunger and High Prices in ICE Detention Centers
8/23/2026, 12:54:00 AM
Detention Center Food Shortfalls and Commissary Reliance
Migrants held in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities report that the three daily meals provided are nutritionally inadequate, prompting many to purchase additional food from on-site commissaries. Detainees describe portions as “just enough to survive,” with some calling the meals “dog food.” Because detainees cannot carry cash or use bank cards, they rely on funds deposited by relatives to buy items such as instant noodles, sardines, tortillas, chips, and soft drinks. Prices are markedly higher than in retail stores; an eight-ounce jar of instant coffee sells for $18, roughly double the price at Walmart, and a box of 40 tampons costs nearly $21, almost twice supermarket rates.
Background & Context
The issue has intensified as ICE’s detention population swelled under the Trump administration’s mass-deportation campaign, with ICE holding nearly 66,000 people and aiming for 100,000 detainees in the coming months. Overcrowding has created what migrant-rights groups call a “lucrative business model” in which contractors set commissary prices with limited oversight. Trinity Food Services is identified as a leading supplier, while private operators GEO Group and CoreCivic run several detention centers.
Official Statements & Responses
ICE issued a written response stating that detainees receive three meals daily, an “adequate” supply of drinking water, and that meals are evaluated by certified dietitians. The agency also claimed it enforces detention standards stricter than those in most U.S. prisons.
CoreCivic spokesperson Ryan Gustin asserted that the commissary “is not operated for profit” and that price comparisons with major retail chains are “entirely inaccurate.” He said the company negotiates lower supplier prices, reduces mark-ups, or removes products when costs become too high, and that revenue generated at the California City facility is placed into a “detainee welfare fund” for equipment and educational materials.
Criticism & Opposition
She adds that “none of the detainees we’ve spoken to knows this welfare fund exists or has received any information about it.”
State Senator Steve Padilla (D-San Diego) introduced Senate Bill 941, which seeks to ban price gouging in private ICE jails and cap commissary prices at 35 % above the vendor’s cost. The bill passed the California Senate in May. Padilla stated that “companies are taking advantage of the wave of mass incarceration driven by President Trump to exploit working-class families.”
Conflicting Reports & Gaps
Sources provide differing figures for detainee spending on commissary items: the CA DOJ report cites weekly expenditures up to $150, the UCLA study notes an average monthly spend of $112, and individual detainee accounts describe weekly outlays of $100–$150 and monthly totals of $400. No public data clarify the exact profit margins earned by commissary vendors, and both ICE and the private operators declined to comment on commissary revenues.
What’s Next
SB 941, which would cap commissary mark-ups, has cleared the California Senate and awaits action in the Assembly. Advocacy groups continue to pressure ICE and private operators for greater transparency regarding the “detainee welfare fund” and the overall cost structure of commissary services.
