Human Rights Watch alleges abuses at Florida immigration detention centers

Immigrants detained in federal sites in Florida have faced inhumane conditions, including substandard medical care, abuse and neglect and overcrowding, Human Rights Watch alleged in a report released Monday.

The advocacy group in the 93-page report detailed the conditions migrants described at three Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities in the Sunshine State — Krome North Service Processing Center (Krome), Broward Transitional Center (BTC) and the Federal Detention Center (FDC) in Miami.

According to the report, detainees and their allies claimed serious violations of medical standards and other breaches of ICE's own guidelines at the three Florida facilities.

A Bureau of Prisons spokesman told The Hill that the agency cannot comment on specific conditions, but noted it is the BOP's mission "to operate facilities that are safe, secure, and humane." 

"We take seriously our duty to protect the individuals entrusted in our custody, as well as maintaining the safety of our employees and the community," the BOP said in a statement.

The Hill has also requested comment from ICE and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

"Some were detained shackled for prolonged periods on buses without food, water, or functioning toilets; there was extreme overcrowding in freezing holding cells where detainees were forced to sleep on cold concrete floors under constant fluorescent lighting; and many were denied access to basic hygiene and medical care," HRW's researchers wrote in their report. "The Trump administration's one-track immigration policy, singularly focused on mass deportations will continue to send more people into immigration detention facilities that do not have the capacity to hold them and will only worsen the conditions described in this report."

President Trump's administration ramped up detention and deportations this year as part of a sweeping immigration crackdown. Additionally, Congress passed a law earlier this year, dubbed the Laken Riley Act, that mandates federal detention of migrants accused of theft, burglary and other crimes.

Records show that more than 56,000 migrants were held in detention facilities each day across the country this month.

Florida has drawn attention for migrant detention after the opening of the so-called "Alligator Alcatraz" site that Trump recently toured in the Everglades, but that facility wasn't among those reviewed in HRW's report.

HRW cited interviews with 11 currently held and recently detained migrants; family members of seven detainees; and 14 immigration lawyers to document the experiences of 17 immigrants across the Krome, BTC and FDC facilities.

"If you ask for help, they isolate you," one woman, who wasn't named in the report, told the researchers. "If you cry, they might take you away for two weeks."

"So, people stay silent," she added.

HRW offered several recommendations for improving detention facilities and procedures for interacting with undocumented migrants who do not pose an immediate threat to the public.

HRW suggested policy changes to avoid detaining people with disabilities, ensure medical conditions are treated and allow oversight of how facilities are being run, among other efforts to improve detention efforts.