Migrants protest their detention in Miami

Dozens of Cuban migrants, detained at a facility run by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Miami, staged a protest June 5 over deteriorating conditions at this immigration facility and others in Florida. They lined up in the recreation yard of the Krome Detention Center in Southwest Miami-Dade and used their bodies to spell out SOS — an internationally recognized signal of distress in radio code. The protest was caught by local news helicopters.

Jasmine Garsd, with NPR’s Morning Edition, who has been covering conditions at the ICE facilities for months, reported: “This facility has had problems for years, and right now we’re seeing severe overcrowding. Detainees have reported illnesses [and] limited access to medication.”

Family members who have spoken out about the harsh conditions at Krome reported the lack of food and water. A woman named Maria, who asked that her last name not be used, told Garsd that her brother, who was detained at Krome, had a serious eye infection with a fever for two weeks but had received no medical treatment.

Garsd noted that even though the ICE facilities in Florida are at 125% capacity, the Trump administration is planning even more arrests. In April, Trump shut down three Department of Homeland Security oversight offices charged with investigating claims of abuse in ICE-run centers.

In March, Trump revoked Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for around 300,000 Cuban migrants, and many were detained ahead of possible deportation. (AP News, June 5)