Asking for Aid: ICE, Advocacy, and Bioethics

In this episode, Dr. Bryan Pilkington speaks with Dr. Arthur Caplan on his effort to urge the American and International Red Cross to investigate alleged human rights and healthcare abuses in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facilities. Caplan describes reports of unsafe, prison-like conditions, arguing that these conditions warrant independent inspection under international humanitarian norms. He emphasizes that bioethicists have a special responsibility to speak out because many of the violations directly involve health, basic care, and the rights of vulnerable populations, especially children.

Read the open letter here:
Caplan, Arthur L. “An Open Letter to the American Red Cross and the International Red Cross: Calling for Immediate Humanitarian Visits to ICE Internment Facilities in Texas,” published March 16, 2026 in Bioethics Today, the website for the American Journal of Bioethics. https://tinyurl.com/openletterRedCross

Guest:
Dr. Arthur Caplan is the Drs. William F. and Virginia Connolly Mitty Professor of Bioethics, Department of Population Health, NYU Grossman School of Medicine.