A leading immigrant advocate group reports it found “egregious human rights abuses” at Krome North Service Processing Center in Miami-Dade County and has submitted its findings to the United Nations Human Rights Council for review.
Miami-based Americans for Immigrant Justice said Tuesday it had obtained direct testimony from immigrants “who suffered appalling and shocking treatment at the Krome Detention Center in violation of basic human rights.”
They found “degrading and inhumane treatment” that included “confining people in overcrowded ‘holding’ cells; people forced to sleep on cold concrete floors “without any blankets or bedding in unsanitary condition; and detainees not given the right to contact family members or attorneys to tell them their whereabouts.
One detainee told the group that he spent the night fully shackled on a bus. “It was almost impossible to sleep shackled and sitting on uncomfortable bus seats,” he said.
READ MORE: Congresswoman Wilson demands access to Krome facility amid allegations of mistreatment of immigrants
Another man described “extreme conditions” inside the facility. “We had to take turns sleeping, with some men lying down and some standing, because there wasn’t enough room for us to all lie down.”
In a statement, Denise Noonan Slavin, a senior advisor with Americans for Immigrant Justice, said the detainees “deserve better and we cannot tolerate this mistreatment.”
“These immigrants, who are being held in civil — not criminal — detention, are being held in inhumane conditions,” she said. “Based on these conditions, if these were commercial facilities for animals, they would shut them down for health and sanitation violations.”
Sui Chung, executive director of Americans for Immigrant Justice, said in a statement that “the grave and rapid deterioration of the conditions at Krome is unprecedented—despite it being a facility with a documented history of abuse and poor conditions.”
READ MORE: South Florida Congress members demand oversight of the controversial Krome detention center
“The horrifying current reports from immigrants are a piercing alarm that communities, families, and children in the United States have been severely harmed and permanently impacted,” she added.
In the past several weeks, the Krome Detention Center has come under intense scrutiny from a slew of critics, including immigrant advocates, members of Congress and activists.
- U.S Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Weston, and 48 other House members on Tuesday signed a separate letter to DHS’s Noem criticizing the agency for shutting down “key oversight offices,” saying it raises serious questions about DHS complying with the law in managing detention facilities like Krome.
- In a letter sent Monday to DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, U.S. Rep. Frederica Wilson, D-Miami Gardens, demanded that a top Trump administration official give her access to the facility in Miami-Dade to review conditions.
- Four women told USA Today that they were held there "like animals" and subjected to conditions “so extreme they feared for their lives.” None of the women had a criminal background. The women spoke to the national media outlet without disclosing their names in fear of retaliation by ICE authorities.
- Two Krome detainees have also died in custody in recent months, according to ICE. Genry Ruiz Guillen, an undocumented immigrant from Honduras, died Jan. 23. The other undocumented immigrant was Maksym Chernyak, 44, of Ukraine, who died Feb. 20.
In a statement to USA Today, ICE officials said the agency “takes its commitment to promoting safe, secure, humane environments for those in our custody very seriously.”
“These allegations are not in keeping with ICE policies, practices and standards of care,” ICE officials added.
