The latest report by Human Rights Watch outlines substandard living conditions for detainees at three Florida Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention centers.
The nongovernmental advocacy group that monitors human rights abuses around the world released their findings on Monday, after interviewing 11 currently and recently detained individuals who had been held at the following Florida detention centers: Krome North Service Processing Center, the Broward Transitional Center and the Federal Detention Center. Additionally, family members of seven detainees and 14 immigration lawyers were interviewed as part of the 92-page report.
It claimed that the centers “flagrantly violate international human rights standards” and that guards had treated detainees in “a degrading and dehumanizing manner.”
A female detainee at Krome recalled being crammed into a holding cell with dozens of other women without proper sleeping accommodations and under unsanitary conditions.
“There was only one toilet, and it was covered in feces,” she claimed. “We begged the officers to let us clean it, but they just said sarcastically, ‘Housekeeping will come soon.’ No one ever came.”
Other women detainees at Krome described how they were shackled while in a bus for hours without being provided any food or water. One man on the bus called it “disgusting.”
“It contained a single toilet that did not really flush. It was the type of toilet in which normally people only urinate,” he claimed. “But because we were on the bus for so long, and we were not permitted to leave it, others defecated in the toilet. Because of this, the whole bus smelled strongly of feces.”
All eight detainees who were interviewed at Krome alleged they had spent days on end in processing cells called la hielera, due to its freezing temperatures. Interviewees claimed there was no bedding in the frigid rooms and they were not provided proper clothing to maintain warm.
“You could not fall asleep because it was so cold. I thought I was going to experience hypothermia,” one 27-year-old detainee from Honduras said.
Women at Krome also claimed that they were held in processing alongside men, were forced to use the restroom in front of men and not given appropriate medical care.
Men at the Federal Detention Center alleged they were constantly mocked and humiliated by guards and the medical staff. A pair of detainees recalled being shackled to other men in a cramped cell for hours on end and claimed they were subjected to invasive cavity searches without justification after receiving visitors.
“When I returned to my cell after a visit, I had to get completely naked in front of a guard, turn around, bend down and get on all fours and cough,” one detainee claimed.
One man said he was denied essential medications and held overnight in a poorly maintained exam room without food or water, all while he was coughing up blood.
Detainees recalled having to “eat like animals” during mealtimes at the Federal Detention Center.
“At 7 p.m., they finally gave us lunch, but only after another guard protested on our behalf,” one man alleged. “We were chained though, so we could not reach the plates with our hands. We had to put the plates on chairs and then bend down and eat with our mouths, like dogs.”
Those experiencing mental health issues while held at the Broward Transitional Center are allegedly being thrown into solitary confinement for weeks.
“If you ask for help, they isolate you. If you cry, they might take you away for two weeks,” one female detainee said. “So, people stay silent.”
It’s claimed that the Broward center was also consistently performing lockdowns, during which detainees were allegedly denied access to medical attention and unable to go outside for days at a time. Those interviewed in the report said that maneuvers, such as lockdowns, impromptu detention center transfers and limited phone access, blocked detainees from having communication with the outside world and adversely affected their mental health.
In a statement to The Times, Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin denied the Human Rights Watch’s claims regarding the state of the ICE detention centers.
“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,” McLaughlin’s statement read. “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.”
McLaughlin also explicitly addressed the claims about women detained at Krome Detention Center.
“Additionally, it is not uncommon for female detainees to be staged at Krome Detention Center,” she wrote. “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.”
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