US EditionHuman Rights Watch alleges abuses at Florida immigration detention centers
FLORIDA, JUL 21 – Human Rights Watch details overcrowding, medical neglect, and shackling at three Florida ICE detention centers amid a surge in detainees to nearly 57,000 in mid-2025, rights groups say.
- On Monday, a 92-page report by Americans for Immigrant Justice, Human Rights Watch and Sanctuary of the South detailed abuses at three Florida detention centers.
- Florida leads the nation in ICE partnerships under 287, and combined with strict state and federal policies, these agreements fueled a surge in arrests.
- At Krome, detainee numbers surged 249% by March, sometimes exceeding triple capacity, and detainees reported hours-long shackling on buses without food, water or a working toilet.
- Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin denied the report’s claims, stating all detainees receive proper meals, medical treatment and communication opportunities, and noting ICE’s standards exceed most U.S. prisons.
- Calls for change span from federal agreements to state capacity expansions, with researchers urged ending 287 agreements to restore community trust and safety, and Governor Ron DeSantis opened Alligator Alcatraz to expand detention bed space.
98 Articles
98 Articles
Lemkin Institute
Human Rights WatchUS: Immigrants Abused in Florida Detention Sites
Pervasive Overcrowding, Medical Neglect, Degrading Treatment • Detainees in Florida immigration detention centers are being subjected to inhuman conditions, including denial of medical care, overcrowding, and degrading treatment. At least two recent deaths may have been linked to medical neglect. • These are not isolated incidents, but rather the result of a fundamentally broken detention system that is rife with serious abuses. • The US governm…
ICE Has Entered Its 'Abu Ghraib' Era
Broward Transitional Center, one of the detention facilities highlighted in the report. Don’t let the pink paint fool you.Over the last few months, we have all been horrified by the treatment of undocumented immigrants (and some documented!) at the hands of ICE and those working at the various concentration camps the Trump administration has set up to contain them. It’s been bad. Really, really bad. And yet, it somehow keeps getting worse. A sto…
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