Senate Democrat predicts 'day of reckoning' for private prison employees

Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.) on Wednesday said private prison employees would have to answer to their treatment of inmates amid the Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration and as more detention facilities may pop up around the U.S.

“There, at some point, is going to be a reckoning for all of this,” Ossoff told MSNBC during an appearance on “The Weeknight.”

“These folks who are working at these private prison companies, who are on Kristi Noem's staff right now, they are at some point going to have to testify under oath about what is happening in the facilities that they’re currently running,” he added. 

Democrats have slammed Republicans for rejecting their attempts to conduct oversight at facilities where U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) hold detained migrants awaiting deportation. Some state lawmakers were also denied entry to Alligator Alcatraz last month, the detention center in the Florida Everglades.

They have also been critical of President Trump's robust immigration agenda, with turmoil rising after lawmakers joined with protestors outside an ICE center in New York earlier this year and anti-ICE protests sprung up in Southern California and beyond in opposition to an uptick in deportation raids after the administration sent National Guard soldiers to Los Angeles to quell demonstrations.

Families of those detained and human rights groups have said their loved ones are suffering from abuse while in ICE custody, such as a lack of clean water and electricity. 

“We’re talking about pregnant women. We’re talking about children," Ossoff told MSNBC's Alicia Menendez. "We’re talking about people who have no business being in one of these horrible detention centers."

“And, you know, I believe that the American people have rejected this draconian and inhumane approach to interior enforcement," the lawmaker continued. "But in terms of my Republican colleagues, no spine is yet visible in the Senate."

The Georgia Democrat also noted that the treatment is “indefensible” citing what he said is over 500 credible reports of abuses. 

House and Senate Democrats joined forces to send a Wednesday letter to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem hoping to address the alleged injustices.

“Brushing aside concerns from human rights watchdogs, environmentalist groups, and Tribal nations, [DHS] has greenlit the construction of this expansive detention facility that may violate detained individuals’ human rights, jeopardize public and environmental health and violate federal law,” Democrats wrote in a letter to Noem inquiring about operations at Alligator Alcatraz.

It’s unclear whether they’ve received a response.

The Hill reached out to DHS for comment.