Human Rights Watch (HRW) exposed alleged “degrading and dehumanizing” treatment of detainees in three Florida immigration detention facilities Monday, claiming detainees have suffered “dangerously substandard medical care, overcrowding, abusive treatment, and restrictions on access to legal and psychosocial support.”
The report, titled “You Feel Like Your Life Is Over,” profiled six detainees held in Krome North Service Processing Center (Krome), Broward Transitional Center (BTC), and the Federal Detention Center (FDC). Interviewees recounted alleged unsanitary confinement, hypothermic conditions, and a lack of access to food, water, and medicine.
In one account, a British man of Indian background suffered serious health complications while detained on tax-related charges. He claimed he contracted a serious respiratory illness and was denied access to insulin, resulting in his hospitalization in April.
“I used my shoes as a pillow. We had no cups for water, just a toilet with a half-wall for privacy,” he told HRW of his time at Krome. “They told us if we kept asking for a toilet that flushed, they would create a problem we wouldn’t like.”
At FDC, authorities allegedly put him in a cell without a working toilet or air conditioning. He was ultimately deported to the UK in June.
Another detainee told HRW that, in certain instances, women were housed in men’s facilities and claimed that officers did not provide the women access to medical care, did not allow women outdoors, and only allowed women to shower after persistently voiced grievances.
“There were cameras right above the open toilet,” she said. “It was okay for the men to use standing up, but for us women it felt humiliating.” She was released in April after New Jersey authorities confirmed the cannabis conviction she was held under had been expunged.
HRW issued recommendations to the US President Donald Trump’s administration, Congress, the Department of Homeland Security, ICE, the state of Florida, and independent contractors to improve current conditions, implement independent oversight, and repeal current laws that require mandatory immigration detention. The group also called on multiple UN groups to further investigate potential abuses and monitor US detention centers.
The US has seen a surge in immigration arrests, detentions, and removals under the Trump administration. According to ICE data, as of June 20, over 56,000 individuals are held in immigration-related confinement. Dozens of individuals and organizations have challenged the administration’s hard-line immigration policies with varying success, arguing that the executive policy has violated due process, the Constitution, and numerous other laws.
Federal courts have attempted to slow down the administration’s quick-paced policy enactments; however, the Supreme Court recently limited federal courts’ ability to issue nationwide injunctions on executive actions. Many questions involving the administration’s immigration policies remain unanswered as cases work their way through the judicial process.
