A new report released by Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Tuesday (22) reveals “inhuman” conditions faced by immigrants arrested in detention centers in southern Florida.
Some immigrants awaiting deportation at the Federal Center for Detention of Miami were forced to eat with handcuffed hands behind their backs, a situation they described as humiliating e degrading.
The report documents that at the North Krome Services Processing Center, the Broward Transition Center (BTC) and the Federal Detention Center of Miami, detainees face overcrowding, unhealthiness and lack of access to adequate medical care.
The HRW report is based on interviews with people who are recently arrested, as well as family members and lawyers, and also analyzed official ICE data. THE CNN verified the complaints independently.
Donald Trump’s tough immigration policies, which promised to perform one, coupled with increasing pressure on ICE to increase arrests and deportations, led to a significant increase in the number of detained people.
Currently, about 57,000 people are in the Custody of ICE, according to federal data obtained by CNN.
Although the government says it focuses on detaining “the worst of the worst”, federal data show that most detained immigrants do not have serious criminal convictions.
According to the HRW report, the number of detainees almost doubled compared to the previous year, reaching the highest level in the country’s history. In the three detention centers in Florida cited in the report, the detained population has grown 111% since Trump’s arrival at the White House.
“We had to eat like animals”
Two HRW interviewed immigrants who were at the Federal Center of Detention, located in Miami-Dade County, described a “humiliating” episode in which dozens of men were clustered in a cell for hours and only received lunch around 7 pm.
Harpinder Chauhan, a British businessman detained by Ice during a regular immigration consultation, said they were forced to eat while handcuffed with their hands behind their backs.
“We had to bend and eat the chairs with our mouths, like dogs,” he said. Peter, another immigrant, added: “We had to eat like animals.”
HRW denounces that degrading treatment by ICE agents and private companies security is common in the three detention centers.
In Krome, where women were detained even the center being exclusive to men, an Argentina reported that the bathrooms were exposed and visible to the parts of the next cells. “If men went up to a chair, they could see our room directly and the bathroom,” he said.
Overcrowded cells, precarious medical care and unhealthy conditions
The reports collected by Human Rights Watch describe people sleeping on the cold cement floor, in rooms designed to house fewer individuals, without bedding and without access to basic hygiene.
Due to overcrowding, “the detainees had to sleep on the cement floor, which was cold, in a constant fluorescent light,” says the report.
One man reported sleeping next to a toilet, in such a full cell that the detainees needed to step on each other to move. Another stated that it was 20 days in a row without access to soap and water.
Since January 2025, the population detained in Krome has tripled, according to HRW, reaching the center’s operational capacity almost three times.
Although Krome has a capacity of about 600 people, in April she housed more than 670, according to the latest ICE data.
The report also highlights the lack of medical treatment, including for detainees with chronic diseases such as diabetes, asthma and HIV.
Interviewed by HRW also reported that asking agents to help could result in punishment.
“If you ask for help, they put you in solitary confinement. If you cry, they can leave you there for two weeks. So people prefer to be silent,” a woman reported.
In addition, at least two recent deaths, one in Krome and one in the BTC, may be related to medical negligence, according to HRW.
HRW investigators state that the conditions described in the systematic and systematic of international standards and US government standards for migratory reasons.
The report also warns that the Trump government policy, focused on the “mass deportations”, will continue to increase the number of immigrants detained in facilities that are unable to receive them, which can “aggravate even more” the situation.
The HRW report was released weeks after Florida Governor Ron Desantis inaugurated alongside Trump the controversial prison known as “Alcatraz dos Jigates” in the swamp region of Everglades.
This installation, built in record time, has also been criticized by defenders of, who accuse disantis to build a prison “designed to inflict suffering.”
A CNN Contacted with the United States Customs Immigration and Control Service (ICE) to request comments and awaits an answer.
