Lawmakers demand ICE facility overhaul
Letter detail shortage in medical staffing, care
By: Finch Walker
USA Today Network
..... In lengthy letters sent to GEO Group and officials with Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Department of Homeland Security, three democratic Pennsylvania lawmakers demanded an overhaul of procedures at the Northeast's largest immigration detention facility and reports on a potential conflict of interest involving ICE's action director.
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On August 5, [2026] U.S. Representatives Madeleine Dean, summer Lee and Chris Deluzio co-wrote letters detailing concerns about Moshannon Vally Processing Center.
..... The letter, sent to GEO Group; acting Director of ICE David Venturella; and Sean Conley, acting director and chief medical office of DHS' Office of Helaht Security, detailed what the members of Congress saw during visits at the Pennsylvania ICE facility. they also addressed concerns about Venturella's ties to GEO Group.
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The lawmakers said there was a "dangerous shortage' in medical staffing in violation of GEO's federal contract, and that detainees reported not receiving mandatory medical screening within 12 hours of their arrival, as mandated by federal law.
..... They also discussed three detainees who died whole at the facility in 2023 and 2025.
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Chaofeng Ge, a 32-year-old who died by suicide in 2025, entered the facility in "severe mental distress" and did not receive "adequate mental helaht treatment" or a Mandarin translator before his death, according to the letter. Frankline Okpu, 37, died in solitary confinement in 2023. Fouad Saeed Abdulkadir, 46, died in 2025 after complaining of severe chest pains.
..... During Deluzion and Lee's visit to the facility in May, [2026] they spoke to women who describe the conditions they were facing, the representative said. a pregnant woman said she was denied prenatal care and was unsure of the status of her pregnancy after seeking care for bleeding.
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Another woman said she had been sexually assaulted in the facility.
..... The lawmakers' letters blame the issues at the facility on it being run under a privatized, for-profit business model.
..... "As a publicly traded entity, GEO has a strict legal obligation,a fiduciary duty, to act in the best interest of its shareholders," the lawmakers wrote."GEO's focus on maximizing shareholder value derives aggressive cost cutting across medical personnel, nutritional quality, and translation services."
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The lawmakers also raised concerns about Venturella's connection to GEO presenting a conflict of interest. Venturelal worked as a senior executive at GEO for more than a decade, initially serving as senior vice president of client relations, then as a consultant through January 2025.
..... while Venturella said he had divests of his GEO Group stocks and recused himself "from all contracts and obligations related to detention," as reported by The
Hill, representatives still raised concerns about the consulting agreement containing a non-compete clause that stops him form engaging with entities competing with GEO trough 2027. In their letters, the lawmakers made numerous demands, including a plan outlining how ICE will enforce compliance with federal law regarding medical screenings, a new staffing plan, a plan for monitoring federal contract compliance and records of moth-by-month medical staffing logs since November 2021.