John,
Last week, I went inside the Moshannon Valley ICE Detention Center for an unannounced congressional oversight visit.
Moshannon is not some faraway place. It is right here in Pennsylvania — about three hours from Pittsburgh — and it is one of the largest ICE detention centers in the country.
And what we saw and heard made one thing painfully clear: there is no way to separate this detention system from the harm it causes families, communities, and people who deserve dignity, care, and justice.
I’m going to keep showing up, keep demanding answers, and keep fighting back against the cruelty of this system. But I need you with me. Will you click here and chip in $5, $10, $25, or whatever you can today to help keep me in this fight?HELP ME KEEP FIGHTINGInside Moshannon, we met women who were carrying real fear in their bodies.
One pregnant woman told us she had been bleeding and did not know the status of her pregnancy. Another woman raised concerns about getting adequate care months after surgery. One woman said she had been the victim of sexual assault, but the conditions inside made it impossible to learn the full details of what happened.
We heard from women trying to advocate for themselves while locked inside a system that makes it hard to be heard, hard to get answers, and impossible to be treated with dignity.
And our ability to conduct real oversight was limited.
We were not allowed to bring in staff interpreters, even though many of the people detained there only speak Spanish. That means people could not fully speak for themselves, in their own language, about what they are experiencing behind those walls.
Let me be clear: a tour is not the same thing as accountability.
It is not enough to walk through a facility while people are afraid to speak freely. It is not enough to see a medical area while women are still raising serious concerns about care. It is not enough to say there is oversight while families are being torn apart and a private prison corporation profits from detention.
Moshannon is operated by GEO Group, a private prison corporation whose business model depends on detention. Every filled bed represents money. Every prolonged confinement becomes income. And every shattered dinner table, every missed bedtime, every empty chair becomes cash in someone else’s pocket.
That is why this fight matters. Because many of the people detained at Moshannon have not been charged with violent crimes. Many are parents, workers, neighbors, and loved ones caught inside a cruel immigration system where cruelty is not an accident — it is the architecture.
The goal is to make people afraid. To separate families. To lock people away from their children, their communities, and the support systems they depend on. And I refuse to look away.
After leaving Moshannon, I said exactly what I meant:
“My next step is to work like hell to make sure that the Trump regime ends.”
That is what this moment demands.
It demands leaders who are willing to show up at the gates. Leaders who are willing to ask the hard questions. Leaders who are willing to fight for the people this system tries to disappear.
And it demands a movement strong enough to stand up to Trump, ICE, private prison corporations, and every politician willing to look the other way.
No one should be treated like they are disposable.
This moment is testing who we are: whether we truly believe every person deserves dignity, and whether we have the courage to face the harm being done in our name and fight to end it.
I will keep fighting for answers, pushing for accountability, and centering the people most impacted.
And with you beside me, I will keep working like hell… just like I promised.
Always proud to be in this fight with you,
— Summer Lee
