Report: Florida’s immigration detention facilities overcrowded, filled with unsafe and unsanitary conditions
Report reveals conditions inside detention centers
FOX 13's Evan Axelbank talked with a migrant who says the conditions are horrible and that he was in the country legally in the first place.
MIAMI, Fla. - A report by Human Rights Watch on Florida immigration detention facilities said they are overcrowded and filled with unsafe and unsanitary conditions.
The backstory:
Harpinder Chauhan's great memories of his nine years in America are now clouded.
"We followed every rule for immigration," he said. "And I'm scratching my head as to why I'm sitting here in the UK right now."
He entered the U.S. on an E-2 investor visa in 2016, promising to create at least 10 jobs with his Orlando barbecue franchise. Even though he created 35, he went bankrupt during the COVID pandemic and agreed to a tax payment plan with the state.
One day he was called to meet with state officials, but found ICE waiting.
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"They snap their handcuffs on me, saying that I'd overstayed, which is not true," he said. "Eventually, the overstayed side of things dropped away, and then they said, well, these tax issues are enough to remove you."
Big picture view:
Pictures released by the Human Rights Watch show what was awaiting him at ICE's holding facility in Miami, which is called the Krome North Service Processing Center.
Shoes were being used as pillows.
"There's no bedding, there's no cushioning, there's no allowance for medication," he said. "You bang on the doors to grab a guard's attention to get some water."
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The report has quotes like, "Men were laying down right next to the toilet, even as others did their business right next to their heads." Women said "men could see right into their room and toilet," and that it took four days to arrange private showers.
They also found "prolonged detention in very cold temperatures" and "no blankets."
"We found numerous violations of the standards that ICE has always had in place for how detention centers should be run and how immigrant detainees should be treated," said Belkis Wille with the Human Rights Watch.
Why you should care:
HRW argues overcrowding is a key source of the poor conditions. One chart has a line for when President Donald Trump took office and shows an increase in ICE detainees nationwide.
Governor Ron DeSantis has opened Alligator Alcatraz in hopes of increasing Florida's bed space. However, Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd told the state immigration board that local law enforcement is still hampered.
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"We're playing catch and release every day," Judd said. "I don't care what you see, what the president thinks is happening at the national level, and it's not a catch and release, because they want to. It's once again back to the ability to hold the people."
The other side:
ICE released the following statement to FOX 13 on the report:
"Any claim that there are subprime conditions at ICE detention centers are FALSE. All detainees are provided with proper meals, medical treatment, and have opportunities to communicate with their family members and lawyers. Ensuring the safety, security, and well-being of individuals in our custody is a top priority at ICE. ICE has higher detention standards than most U.S. prisons that hold actual U.S. citizens.
Additionally, it is not uncommon for female detainees to be staged at Krome Detention Center. Female detainees are not placed into general population and male detainees have absolutely ZERO access to female detainees. Like all detainees these women have access to medical care.
Make no mistake, this type of lies is contributing to the over 830% increase in assaults on the men and women of ICE who put their lives on the line every day to arrest violent criminal illegal aliens to protect and defend the lives of American citizens."
What's next:
Now that the struggle to enforce immigration policy is becoming more public, Harpinder is hoping that both federal and state officials only take on what they can handle.
"I just couldn't understand what the need is to treat us like that," said Chauhan. "And the behavior from the guards, just there's the lack of respect, lack of humanity towards us."
Alligator Alcatraz was not included in this report, which focused on two holding facilities in Miami and one in Broward County.
The Source: The information in this story was gathered by FOX 13's Evan Axelbank.