A new report has exposed harrowing conditions inside three immigration detention facilities in South Florida, where detainees say they were shackled, denied basic necessities, and subjected to degrading treatment under the Trump administration’s expanded enforcement policies.
The report, titled “‘You Feel Like Your Life is Over’: Abusive Practices at Three Florida Immigration Detention Centres Since January 2025”, focuses on the Krome North Service Processing Centre, the Broward Transitional Centre, and the Federal Detention Centre in Miami. It accuses authorities of subjecting immigrants to severe overcrowding, unsanitary conditions, and neglect.
According to The Guardian, one of the most disturbing findings involved male detainees being confined to overcrowded holding cells for hours without food—sometimes not receiving lunch until around 7 p.m. The men, still shackled, were reportedly forced to kneel and eat off chairs. “We had to eat like animals,” a man named Pedro said.
At Krome North, female detainees were allegedly forced to use toilets in full view of male detainees and were denied access to proper hygiene, medical care, and adequate meals.
Due to a lack of space, some detainees reported being held for over 24 hours inside buses parked outside the facilities. Men and women were confined together, with only one toilet on board—which quickly became clogged. One detainee recalled, “The bus became disgusting… people defecated in the toilet, and the whole bus smelled strongly of feces.”
Inside the detention centers, conditions weren’t much better. New arrivals were often held in ice-cold intake rooms for up to 12 days without bedding or warm clothes, sleeping on bare concrete. One woman, Andrea, said Krome was so overcrowded that “even the visitation rooms were filled—some so packed that men had to stand the entire time.”
At Broward Transitional Centre, detainees reported delayed or denied medical care, including for chronic conditions and visible injuries. In one disturbing account, a protest over a detainee coughing up blood ended with staff allegedly turning off surveillance cameras and a “disturbance control team” violently subduing detainees—resulting in at least one broken finger.
The report accuses the Trump administration of dramatically escalating detention efforts since January, worsening conditions inside federal facilities. “These abusive enforcement tactics are terrorizing communities and tearing families apart,” said Katie Blankenship, an immigration attorney and co-founder of Sanctuary of the South.
She warned the system’s chaos and cruelty could have long-lasting consequences: “The rapid, chaotic, and cruel approach to arresting and locking people up is literally deadly and causing a human rights crisis that will plague this state and the entire country for years to come.”
