Four immigrant women detained at an ICE processing center have come forward with harrowing accounts of inhumane conditions, including hours spent chained on prison buses without access to food, water, or toilets.
According to accounts shared with USA Today, guards reportedly told the women to urinate and defecate on the floor during lengthy transfers, some lasting up to 12 hours. "It stank so badly," one of the detainees said.
The women, all held on alleged immigration violations without criminal background, say they were then packed into overcrowded holding cells "like sardines in a jar" at Krome North Processing Center in Miami.
They described being packed into small, overcrowded cells with up to 27 others, sleeping on concrete floors with limited access to water, showers, or sanitary supplies. The overloaded cell's two toilets were in the open and under video surveillance. One detainee claimed she was told to fake a seizure if she wanted medical attention. Another recalled being held in chains so tightly she struggled to breathe.
"They put like chains on us, hands to waist, connected. It was very scary because they chained my chest super-tight and I couldn't breathe properly," she said. "I was really scared because I thought, 'I'm not going to be able to breathe.'"
The allegations come as ICE detention centers across the country are pushed past capacity amid the Trump administration's push for stricter immigration enforcement. The agency recently reported holding over 46,000 detainees despite a capacity of 41,500 beds.
"I know the conditions are extremely bad, and they're not supposed to be that way," Miami immigration attorney Nenad Milosevic told USA Today.
An ICE spokesperson stated that without the names of the women—who requested anonymity for fear of retaliation as they remain detained—the agency cannot substantiate the allegations. "These allegations are not in keeping with ICE policies, practices and standards of care," the statement read.
However, past investigations have documented ongoing human rights concerns at Krome and in immigration detention centers under both Democratic and Republican administrations. This year alone, two men have died in custody at the Krome facility.
The administration seeks to expand detention space, including a proposed facility at Guantanamo Bay, plans to construct detention spaces on military bases, and partnering with local law enforcement to use jails.
"They clearly have plans to reopen facilities or build new ones," immigration attorney Mich González said. "But in the meantime they are overcrowding the existing facilities."
One of the women recorded her experience in a letter titled "Hell on Earth." "They acted like we were animals," she said. "Nobody cared."
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