Immigrants held at a federal immigration facility in Miami were allegedly forced to eat on their knees with their hands shackled behind their backs, in conditions described as degrading treatment, according to a report released Monday by several human rights organizations.
The report details an incident that occurred at a federal detention center in downtown Miami, where dozens of men were locked up for hours without food before being served around 7 p.m. Still handcuffed, they were forced to kneel in front of Styrofoam plates placed on chairs, The Guardian reported.
“We had to eat like animals,” said a detainee named Pedro, quoted in the report.
The investigation—conducted by Human Rights Watch, Americans for Immigrant Justice, and Sanctuary of the South—documents a series of alleged abuses at three immigration detention centers in South Florida, all operated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
At the Krome North Service Processing Center in west Miami, women were allegedly forced to use toilets in view of detained men, with no access to gender-specific care, showers, or sufficient food. The center, which was reportedly overcrowded, held transfers for more than 24 hours in buses parked outside, The Guardian stated.
“The bus became disgusting. It was the kind of toilet you’re only supposed to pee in, but since we weren’t allowed to leave, some people defecated in it,” one man said.
“The smell of feces spread everywhere.”
Once admitted inside the facility, several migrants reported spending up to 12 days in an ice-cold room nicknamed la hielera (the icebox), without blankets or warm clothing, sleeping on the floor.
“When I left, almost all the visiting rooms were occupied. Some were so full that the men couldn’t even sit down,” said Andrea, an immigrant who were detained at one of the facilities.
At the Broward Transitional Center in Pompano Beach—where Marie Ange Blaise, a 44-year-old Haitian woman, died in April—testimonies pointed to frequent medical neglect. Detainees said their medical care was delayed, even in cases of chronic illness or injury, and described medical staff as indifferent or aggressive.
In one incident reported in April in Miami, officers allegedly turned off a surveillance camera before deploying a “disturbance control team” against detainees who were protesting inaction as a fellow migrant coughed up blood. One of the detainees reportedly sustained a broken finger.
According to data compiled in the report, the number of immigrants held daily in the United States stood at 56,400 as of mid-June, with nearly 72% having no criminal record. In 2024, the daily average was 37,500.
All three facilities cited in the report were operating in a state of extreme overcrowding—a situation that prompted authorities to accelerate construction of the controversial prison known as the “Alcatraz of the Everglades,” which is expected to hold up to 5,000 immigrants awaiting deportation.
“The anti-immigrant escalation and law enforcement tactics under the Trump administration are terrorizing communities and breaking families apart,” said Katie Blankenship, an immigration attorney and co-founder of Sanctuary of the South.
“This fast, chaotic, and cruel approach is literally deadly and is triggering a human rights crisis that will haunt Florida and the entire country for years to come,” said one of the immigrant rights advocates in an interview with The Guardian, which noted it had contacted ICE for comment but had not yet received a response.
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