Reports Detail Overcrowding, Lack of Food & Illness At ICE Detention Centers

Conditions inside Florida immigration detention centers are deteriorating rapidly as overcrowding, medical neglect, and hunger drive desperation among detainees and their families. Maria, whose brother has been detained at Miami's Krome Detention Center for over two months, told NPR he has gone without medical treatment for a fever and a serious eye infection. "Please help me. I'm desperate," she texted. "They are sleeping on the floor and sometimes don't get meals."

Krome, long plagued by allegations of mistreatment, has seen two deaths this year alone. A recent protest at the facility saw detainees form a human "SOS" on the yard. ICE claims the protest was peaceful and asserts detainees are kept in "safe, secure, and humane environments," but testimonies from families and lawyers paint a grim picture. Miami-based attorney Jeff Botelho reported his client was given just a cup of rice and glass of water per day, forced to sleep on the floor. Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz described "two to three dozen men crammed into the perimeter of a very tiny room… defecating in front of each other," during a surprise visit.

Experts say ICE is currently operating at 125% capacity. While immigration arrests surge under "Operation Tidal Wave" and Trump's push to detain 3,000 people a day, deportation rates aren't keeping pace. Policy tracker Tom Cartwright noted deportation flights have only recently increased from four to seven a day, with each plane carrying around 120–150 people—just a fraction of the detained population.

Advocates like Setareh Ghandehari of Detention Watch Network warn of starvation and emotional breakdowns inside these facilities. "I've heard people use the word 'starving.'" Nine people have died in ICE custody since January, with Florida accounting for at least three of those deaths.

One detainee, Jhonkleiver Ortega, who was held for driving without a license, told his mother, "They barely feed us here. I can't anymore… I asked to be deported." His mother, who sold her home in Venezuela to pay his bond, remains in anguish. "What are the chances my deportation flight will make a wrong turn?" he asked a judge. For many, that dark humor is the only escape.

Link: NPR

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