Immigrants Endure Inhumane Treatment in U.S. Detention
Detainees face shackling, overcrowding, and neglect in Florida facilities.
A damning report released on Monday exposes horrific conditions at three overcrowded immigration detention centers in south Florida: Krome North Service Processing Centre, Broward Transitional Centre, and the Federal Detention Centre in Miami. Titled “You Feel Like Your Life is Over”: Abusive Practices at Three Florida Immigration Detention Centres Since January 2025, the document alleges widespread mistreatment under the Trump administration’s intensified immigration policies.
At Krome, detainees described being shackled with hands tied behind their backs, forced to kneel and eat from styrofoam plates placed on chairs, with one detainee, Pedro, stating, “We had to eat like animals.” Men were held in cramped cells for hours, some not receiving food until 7 p.m. Women faced additional humiliation, forced to use toilets in view of male detainees and denied gender-appropriate care, showers, or sufficient food.
Overcrowding was rampant across all facilities. Some detainees were confined for over 24 hours on a bus in Krome’s parking lot, with men and women mixed together and only unshackled to use a single, quickly clogged toilet. “The bus smelled strongly of faeces,” one man reported. New arrivals endured up to 12 days in freezing intake rooms, sleeping on concrete floors without bedding or warm clothing. “Visitation rooms were so full that men couldn’t even sit,” said Andrea, a female detainee.
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At Broward Transitional Centre, detainees reported neglected medical needs, with delayed treatment for injuries and chronic conditions. In one incident, staff allegedly disabled surveillance cameras before a “disturbance control team” assaulted detainees protesting inadequate medical care, leaving one with a broken finger.
The report attributes these conditions to the Trump administration’s aggressive push for detentions and deportations since January 2025. “The anti-immigrant escalation is terrorizing communities and ripping families apart,” said Katie Blankenship, an immigration attorney and co-founder of Sanctuary of the South. She warned that this “cruel approach” is fueling a human rights crisis with lasting consequences for Florida and beyond.
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