Migrants’ Harrowing Accounts of Inhumane Treatment
Human Rights Watch (HRW) has released a report detailing the mistreatment and degrading conditions faced by migrants in three Florida detention centers: Krome Processing Services North (Krome), Broward Transition Center (BTC), and Miami Federal Detention Center (FDC).
Inhumane Conditions and Degrading Treatment
Migrants interviewed by HRW reported “unjustified invasive searches” and “humiliating conduct” by ICE agents and private security guards. These accounts paint a grim picture of their experiences, with detainees subjected to inhumane treatment.
- Detainees were kept shackled on buses for extended periods without food, water, or functional restrooms.
- Some were forced to sleep on cold concrete floors without bedding, under constant fluorescent lighting.
- Chauhan and Pedro described being held in a cell with dozens of men since early morning, shackled at the feet and hands behind their backs.
- Despite seeing food through cell bars, guards refused to provide it, forcing detainees to eat like animals using their plates as makeshift bowls.
Extreme Overcrowding and Negligence
The report, compiled by HRW, Americans for Immigrant Justice, and Sanctuary of the South, highlights extreme overcrowding in cells, sometimes housing twice their capacity, to meet President Donald Trump’s goal of expelling a record number of undocumented migrants.
- By June 20, 2019, the number of migrants detained for immigration reasons in these three centers was 111% higher than pre-Trump administration levels.
- A woman recounted her January arrival at Krome, a center for men, where she was detained without bedding or privacy for days.
- She described a single toilet covered in feces, with guards refusing to clean it despite pleas from detainees.
“Treated Like Garbage”
A Colombian man reported being detained for 63 days without charges, expressing his desire to be in the US but criticizing the treatment he received in detention centers.
“We want to be in the US, it’s a great country, but guards treat you like garbage in immigration detention centers,” he said. “You feel your life is over.”
HRW warns that such treatment can cause lasting psychological damage and violates international human rights standards as well as ICE’s own detention guidelines.
The report suggests at least two recent deaths may be linked to medical negligence.
Belkis Wille, HRW’s director, stated that these conditions are not isolated incidents but the result of a fundamentally flawed detention system.
ICE has been contacted for comment but has yet to respond.
Tom Homan, Trump’s immigration policy chief, recently stated that the administration currently has around 60,000 migrant detention beds but needs 100,000 due to the time-consuming process of expelling migrants.
The government claims to focus on criminals, gang members, and drug traffickers, but many non-criminal migrants have been detained, sometimes at their workplaces.
