The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights held a hearing on Friday about concerns at immigration detention centers. That includes the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma, one of the largest in the country.

TRANSCRIPT

During the all-day hearing in Washington D.C., the commissioners questioned federal officials, contractors and immigrant rights groups about how detainees are treated. Early on in the testimony, Commission Chair Martin Castro took a moment to underscore his concern.

Castro: "I’m shocked to hear the consistency among different facilities – the kind of abuse, sexual and otherwise that seems to be occurring. There’s clearly a culture of this going on."

The hearing looked at the detention system as a whole, and at complaints with specific locations.