The organization denounces inhuman conditions, extreme overcrowding and generalized violations of rights in facilities managed by ICE and private contractors.
Miami, United States. – Human Rights Watch (HRW) denounced on Monday in An extensive report A systematic pattern of abuse in three migratory detention centers in the state of Florida, United States, as part of the mass deportation policy promoted by the second administration of President Donald Trump.
In your report entitled “Do you feel your life is over?”HRW states that thousands of people were held between January and June 2025 in conditions that violate not only international human rights standards, but also the regulations of the US government themselves.
Research, which focuses on the SERVICE PROCESSING CENTER OF NORTH OF KROMEthe Broward Transition Center (BTC) and the Federal Detention Center (FDC), reveals that in March the number of detainees in Krome exceeded 249% the levels registered before January. In critical moments, the population arrested in that center tripled its operational capacity. By June 20, the total number of detainees for migratory reasons in the three centers was 111% higher than the beginning of the year.
“People arrested for migratory reasons are being treated in a degrading and dehumanizing way,” says HRW. According to the testimonies collected, the detainees were handcuffed for hours in buses without access to water, food or functional baths, forced to sleep on the cold cement, constantly exposed to fluorescent lights, and deprived of basic services of hygiene and medical care.
The conditions reported are direct result of the Executive Order 14159promulgated by Trump at the beginning of his second term. This provision establishes as a government policy, detention throughout the expulsion process of persons suspected of violating immigration laws, “to the extent that the law allows.”
According to HRW, these measures have led to unprecedented figures: more than 56,000 people remained detained for migratory reasons as of June 20, 2025, 40% more than in June of the previous year, and almost 72% of them had no criminal record.
The report details serious medical violations. Officials of the centers systematically denied essential medicines to people with diabetes, asthma, kidney diseases and chronic pain. In a particularly alarming case, a woman with bile calculations lost knowledge after several days without medical attention. She was subjected to emergency surgery to remove her gallbladder and subsequently returned to her cell without medication.
The testimonies collected by HRW are heartbreaking. A woman arrested in Krome reported having been retained for days with other women in a cell without privacy or bedding, with a single “stool covered” toilet. When they asked to clean it, the agents responded sarcastically: “The cleaning will come.”
Another detainee described the extreme cold in the reception cells: “They uploaded the air conditioning … I thought it was going to give me hypothermia.” Others denounced that they were forced to eat handcuffs, leaning on chairs such as animals: “We had to bend and eat on the chairs with their mouths, like dogs.”
The overcrowding and lack of personnel aggravated the situation. On many occasions, forced confinements limited access to recreational activities, medical care and contact with lawyers or family. HRW warns that these confinements, transfers without prior notice and lack of communication worsen mental health problems and hinder the legal preparation of cases.
In addition to physical conditions, the report indicates practices that could constitute psychological torture. People who requested psychosocial support were isolated as punishment. A woman said: “If you ask for help, they isolate you. If you cry, they can isolate you for two weeks. Then people are quiet.”
The report also warns about the differentiated conditions to which women detained in centers historically designed for men were subjected. This practice was used to justify the denial of medical care and adequate health conditions. A woman was admitted to Krome on January 28 and arrested in a cell without privacy or assistance for several days.
HRW’s investigation, based on interviews with 11 people currently or recently detained, relatives of seven detainees and 14 migratory lawyers, exposes a system in which the authorities show an alarming indifference to symptoms of medical crisis. In one case, a detainee who coughed blood was ignored for hours. The resulting protest was violently suffocated by a riot team, which handcuffed the inmates and forced them to remain mouth of the wet and dirty ground. An agent ordered to turn off the surveillance chamber. Another shouted at a detainee: “Close the fucking mouth,” while slapping him.
HRW links these practices with broader policies adopted by the Trump administration since January 2025, which include the designation of migrants such as “foreign enemies”, accelerated expulsion without procedural guarantees, and the suspension of the parole, the status of temporary protection and the refugee resettlement program, except for certain racial minorities.
According to HRW, there is an “increasingly evident atmosphere of fear”, which leads migrants to avoid not only authorities, but also hospitals, schools and religious centers, for fear of being arrested. This situation has “a significant impact on their daily life and the future perspectives of their families.”
The report concludes with a series of recommendations: to restrict immigration arrest as the last resort; guarantee adequate medical and psychosocial care; eliminate the use of isolation as punishment; ensure access to legal representation; and promote independent supervision of detention centers.
“The staff must receive training in human rights and informed care about trauma,” says HRW. In addition, it calls for policies that “prioritize security, dignity and due process for all people in custody.”
