Human Rights Watch – “The United States government has subjected immigrants detained in three Florida facilities to abusive, degrading, and in some cases life-threatening conditions, Americans for Immigrant Justice, Human Rights Watch, and Sanctuary of the South said in a report released today. The 92-page report, “‘You Feel Like Your Life is Over’: Abusive Practices at Three Florida Immigration Detention Centers Since January 2025,” documents that people detained at Krome North Service Processing Center (Krome), Broward Transitional Center (BTC), and the Federal Detention Center (FDC) in Miami have been held in overcrowded and unsanitary conditions, subjected to degrading treatment, and have not been given access to prompt and adequate medical care. The groups also reported the experiences of 17 immigrants at the three detention facilities since January 20.

Abusive Practices at Three Florida Immigration Detention Centers Since January 2025 – “People in immigration detention are being treated as less than human,” said Belkis Wille, associate crisis and conflict director at Human Rights Watch. “These are not isolated incidents, but rather the result of a fundamentally broken detention system that is rife with serious abuses.” Americans for Immigrant Justice is a nonprofit law firm that fights for justice for immigrants through direct representation, impact litigation, advocacy, and outreach. Human Rights Watch is an international nongovernmental organization that investigates and reports on human rights abuses around the world to promote justice and accountability. Sanctuary of the South is a workers’ collaborative with a mission of justice and liberation through communal love and support. Researchers for the groups interviewed current and former immigrant detainees, their family members, and immigration lawyers and analyzed US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) data and other official documents. Since President Donald Trump took office, his administration has driven forward a surge in immigration detention nationally, with ICE data showing that 45 out of 181 authorized detention facilities across the country exceeded their contractual capacity in mid-April. The number of people detained by ICE in Florida has also surged, driven by federal and state policies that have expanded the scope of immigration enforcement. At Krome, the detained population more than tripled in the first three months of 2025, reaching nearly three times its operational capacity. FDC, a federal prison that in recent years had not been used for immigration detention, began holding hundreds of immigrants in February…”