Faced with torturous conditions, nine immigrants in detention and advocates demand releases and investigation into Miami ICE prison

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: media@freedomforimmigrants.org

MIAMI — Nine Black immigrants in federal custody today filed a civil rights complaint with the Biden administration, speaking out against a disturbing pattern of anti-Black racism and abuse at the Krome North Service Processing Center, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center in Miami, Florida. Advocates with The UndocuBlack Network, Haitian Bridge Alliance, National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild and Freedom for Immigrants submitted the complaint with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties (CRCL).

Based on dozens of interviews, letters and calls to the Freedom for Immigrants National Immigration Detention Hotline, the complaint includes testimonies collected in August and September that describe the racist practices and unlivable conditions at the facility, including discriminatory treatment, COVID-19 negligence, denial of medical care, sexual assault, retaliation, coercive and unlawful use of force to obtain signatures on paperwork and religious discrimination, among other abuses.

The group of nine Black immigrants making the complaint point to racial disparities in custody decisions, reporting that among the few immigrants who are released, none are Black. And despite a federal court order directing ICE to consider the release of people with risk factors for severe COVID-19 complications, ICE has failed to comply, endangering the lives of those detained at Krome.

The complaint documents how officials at Krome have utterly failed to comply with COVID-19 protocols mandated by ICE and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). “People in this dorm are displaying COVID-19 symptoms and are really sick,” reported Johan Cruyff Jimstar Aceus, one of the two named individuals in the complaint. “There is no proper sanitation and no testing being done either.”

“This new complaint unequivocally demonstrates that DHS, much like state and local law enforcement agencies, has an endemic and foundational anti-Blackness problem,” said Breanne Palmer, interim policy and advocacy director at the UndocuBlack Network. “Whether DHS’s violence is highly public at the border, or behind closed doors in detention, we understand how devastating interacting with DHS can be for Black immigrants. This complaint adds to the growing chorus of demands for accountability and reparations for Black immigrants and all immigrants subjected to these monstrous acts. Although the Biden administration has inherited a wicked system, the responsibility to immediately dismantle this system falls squarely on this administration’s shoulders. We expect nothing less.”

”This complaint highlights some of the anti-Black racism and discriminatory treatment that is pervasive throughout the U.S. immigration system, particularly in ICE detention, including sexual assault, denial of medical care and retaliation, among other poor treatment,” said Guerline Jozef, co-founder and executive director of Haitian Bridge Alliance. “To be in a Black body in detention in the United States of ours means that you are subject to abuse, whether it’s in immigration detention or otherwise. We are tired of this abuse, and we expect DHS and ICE to take all measures necessary to investigate the allegations raised by these brave nine individuals and to issue remedies to stop the abuse and make these individuals whole.”

The complaint also highlights a pattern of racist verbal abuse, demeaning treatment and homophobic and Islamophobic comments. “Since I have arrived at Krome Detention Center, I have witnessed bullying from guards,” recalled one of the individuals in the complaint who chose to remain anonymous out of fear of retaliation.

“Above all reports, we are called by our A number and not our name, taking the name out, takes the human out of a person and makes us feel inhumane,” wrote one of the individuals in the complaint who chose to remain anonymous.

According to the complaint, guards at Krome use threats, coercion and physical violence to obtain signatures on deportation paperwork, an unlawful tactic that has previously been deployed against Black immigrants in Louisiana and Mississippi. “Since I have arrived at Krome Detention Center, I have witnessed ICE guards pressure people into signing their deportation orders when many cannot read, write, or understand what is going on with their case,” reported another individual who chose to remain anonymous.

“Anti-Blackness permeates all parts of the U.S. law enforcement and prison systems, and immigration detention is no exception,” said Amanda Díaz, national hotline manager with Freedom for Immigrants. “Black and Haitian immigrants are facing violence, discrimination and abuse not only at the border, but in detention centers like Krome across the country. Many Black immigrants in detention are doubly criminalized due to prior contact with the unjust legal and mass incarceration systems. It doesn't have to be this way. We can uphold dignity for Black immigrants by ending the mass detention of immigrants and prioritizing our communities.”

“We know that immigrant lives are in danger anytime they are in ICE custody and that Black immigrants are disproportionately targeted and harmed through the vile immigration detention system. The abuses documented in this complaint are emblematic of a detention system that is inherently inhumane and flawed beyond repair. We urge the Biden administration to not only release the nine immigrants who filed this complaint, but also to immediately cut detention contracts, release people from ICE custody, and shut down this harmful detention system for good," said Cristina Velez, senior staff attorney at the National Immigration Project.

The group of Black immigrants behind the complaint also reports instances of sexual assault, religious discrimination, severe medical neglect, inadequate nutrition and retaliation for speaking out against abuses.

Advocates say the facility “has proven itself unable and unwilling to provide those in its care with safety and due process,” calling for the release of everyone at Krome back to the community and for an immediate investigation into the discriminatory practices, sexual abuse, medical neglect, and COVID-19 negligence.

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