US protesters demand better conditions at Miami’s Krome Detention Center amid mistreatment allegations – JURIST
Hundreds of citizens gathered outside the Krome Detention Center in Miami on Saturday to protest overcrowding and reports of detainees lacking necessities. Protesters voiced opposition to President Trump’s aggressive deportation strategy and called out US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for its role in the crisis.
Outrage intensified after reports revealed severe mistreatment of detainees at Krome, including abuse of female prisoners in a facility that is supposedly reserved for men. Some detainees described being “held like animals”, chained for hours on a prison bus without access to food, water, or a toilet. Viral videos surfaced showing detainees sleeping on the floor under chairs, pleading for help from Mexico’s President Sheinbaum and human rights organizations. Prisoners claimed being “kidnapped and held incommunicado for over 30 days”. Two deaths have been reported at the facility since late January, adding to the growing public demands.
A spokesperson for ICE responded to the criticisms, telling the Miami Herald that “due to recent increases in detention populations, some ICE facilities are experiencing temporary overcrowding”. However, the spokesperson did not provide the number of detainees being held, citing “operational and security concerns”.
The overcrowding issue is not new but has become more pronounced under Trump’s administration. According to the Department of Homeland Security, in the first 50 days of Trump’s presidency, ICE made 32,809 enforcement arrests—significantly more than the total number of arrests made during the entire previous year under the Biden administration. By February, ICE was forced to release dozens of migrant detainees per day as the detention system exceeded its maximum capacity by 109 percent.
Protesters held signs that read “America is built by immigrants” and featured images of detainees with the words “kidnapped by ICE”. They demanded the release and better treatment of detainees. These calls for reform come amid fears that the situation will worsen as the Trump administration seeks to revoke the legal status of potentially more than half a million immigrants.
