Miami Migrant Detention Center Staff Fear Migrant Uprising As Population Swells To Three Times Its Capacity

As the Trump administration ramps up its deportation efforts, Krome Detention Center in Miami, the U.S.' oldest immigration detention facility and one with a long history of abuse, saw its prisoner population skyrocket. Now, staff fears a prisoner uprising is looming.

In recent months, the prisoner population at Krome, located on the edge of the Florida Everglades, has swelled to nearly three times its capacity of 600. The rise has resulted in multiple reports over a lack of water and food, unsanitary confinement and medical neglect.

"There are 1700 people here at Krome!!!!," one U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement employee texted a co-worker last month, adding that even though it felt unsafe to walk around the facility nobody was willing to speak out.

The detention center is one of more than 140 facilities around the U.S. where immigrants are being detained— and it is being stretched far beyond its capacity, interviews with people who were held at the facility and analysis of publicly available data suggest. Nationwide, detentions have surged to nearly 48,000 as of March 23, a 21% increase from the already elevated levels at the end of the Biden administration.

At Krome, the conditions are dire. The Trump administration has sent scores of detainees into the Krome Hold Room, where ICE guidelines say migrants should not be held for more than 12 hours. Yet due to overcrowding, some say they have waited for days, with long waits for medical care, bathrooms, telephones and access to a lawyer.

"Hold rooms are meant for very short-term processing," said Eunice Cho, senior attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union's National Prison Project. "They are by no means equipped to handle people for a period of even more than a few hours, let alone a week."

The facilities' worsening conditions were noted in weekly reports to Department of Homeland Security leadership. They worked their way up the chain through DHS' Office of Immigration and Detention Ombudsman, an independent watchdog established by Congress during the first Trump administration.

In mid-March, the office's 100 staffers— including a case manager at Krome— were placed on administrative leave.

"Rather than supporting law enforcement efforts, they often function as internal adversaries that slow down operations," DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said at the time.

So far since Trump took office, three detainees have died in ICE custody— two of them at Krome. The latest was Maksym Chernyak, who died after complaining to his wife about overcrowding and freezing conditions. The 44-year-old Ukrainian entered the U.S. last year under a humanitarian program for people fleeing the country's war with Russia.

Chernyak was sent home to Krome after an arrest for domestic violence and got sick with a chest cold. After being monitored for a week with high blood pressure, on Feb. 18, at 2:33 a.m., he was taken to a hospital for seizure-like vomiting. Two days later, he died. His wife said he was a "strong, healthy man," prior to his detention.

"They saw his condition, but they ignored him," said Oksana Tarasiuk in an interview. "If he wasn't put in Krome, I'm sure that he would still be alive."

Complaints about conditions inside Krome have persisted for years and stretch back over multiple administrations, Bloomberg reports. Past allegations detailed in complaints from lawyers detained immigrants and in government audits of the facility have included allegations of overcrowding, lack of medical care and even reports of sexual abuse.

ICE, in a statement, didn't comment on specific allegations of mistreatment but that it will "make adjustments as necessary to ensure the integrity of our immigration enforcement operations while upholding our duty to treat all individuals with dignity and respect."

"These allegations are not in keeping with ICE policies, practices and standards of care," the agency said.