A green card holder detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) says conditions inside the Houston Detention Center are inhumane, claiming the food served is so poor he wouldn’t even give it to his dog.
Deon Lewis, who has lived in the U.S. since 1993, was taken into ICE custody on June 17. According to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), he has criminal convictions for cocaine possession, firearm offenses, multiple drug-related charges, and driving without a license.
Lewis, who suffers from sickle cell disease and has undergone two lung surgeries due to pneumothorax, said he eventually requested deportation after struggling to cope inside the ICE-run facility.
“The conditions in the Houston Detention Center are terrible. From the health care to the food they feed us. This food my dog wouldn’t even eat,” Lewis told Newsweek from detention.
DHS has denied his allegations.
Lewis also described black mold in the showers and on bathroom floors, poor air quality, and mistreatment from some guards. “Not all of them, but I think they try their best to keep us as uncomfortable as they possibly can,” he said. “These facilities are not set up correctly for humans. The conditions are not humane.”
His wife, Roxanne Lewis, said she has endured sleepless nights worrying about his health. She claimed that during his transfers between detention centers—including Baltimore, New Jersey, Boston, Louisiana, and Houston—he was repeatedly denied proper medical care. She recalled one incident in Louisiana where a nurse allegedly laughed as he vomited on the floor.
President Donald Trump has directed his administration to remove millions of migrants living in the U.S. without legal status as part of his campaign pledge for mass deportations. In practice, even immigrants with green cards and visas have been detained.
Lewis’ criminal record dates back to 2002, when he was arrested for cocaine possession, pleaded guilty, and received probation, according to the Houston Chronicle. In 2020, he was again charged with possession of marijuana and cocaine, as well as carrying a firearm.
DHS defended its actions, highlighting Lewis’ criminal history and insisting that detainees receive proper care.
“The fake news refuses to report on Americans raped, murdered, and molested by criminal illegal aliens but maintain their 24-7 news cycle peddling false sob stories for dangerous lawbreakers—like Deon Kevon Lewis,” DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said.
She described Lewis as “a 43-year-old convicted DRUG TRAFFICKER from Trinidad and Tobago, with multiple convictions including for cocaine trafficking, being a felon in possession of a firearm, and carrying a loaded firearm in a vehicle.”
McLaughlin added that ICE ensures detainees have access to comprehensive medical, dental, and mental health services, with intake screenings conducted within 12 hours of arrival. “DHS takes its commitment to promote safe, secure, humane environments for those in our custody very seriously.”
Lewis, however, says his experience has been painful and demoralizing. “I am still here being detained, praying to be deported back to my birth country. I am paying for a crime I committed 23 years ago. I paid my dues to society, for the wrong I had done & don’t deserve this.”
His wife emphasized the toll his detention has taken on their family. “We are all very depressed. Being without Deon has been extremely difficult. He is a loving Father, Husband, Son, & Friend to many. He isn’t the ‘public safety threat’ they’re trying to portray him as. He is always willing to help someone in need.”
