Nature of Complaints:
Access to Counsel: access to counsel issues consist of any number impediments upon an individual’s access to their legal counsel. There have been many reports of Florida detention centers refusing to provide private meeting spaces during the COVID-19 pandemic and monitoring attorney client messages.
Use of Force: excessive use of force is a common complaint in Florida’s immigrant detention centers. Examples include complaints for the use of pepper spray without reason or warning, refusing to allow individuals to shower or decontaminate for many hours, and physically assaulting detained individuals in blind spots without security footage.
Solitary Confinement: many complaints have been received about the punitive use of solitary confinement used to threaten, intimidate, and force individuals to comply with orders, all in direct contravention of the 2019 National Detention Standards.
Denial of Medical Care: there are a high number of complaints for the refusal to provide detained individuals with critical medical care. Examples include refusal to provide wisdom teeth surgery for an individual in acute pain for over 100 days and instead prescribing a liquid diet when the individual’s pain exacerbated to the point he could no longer chew food; as well as refusing to treat a bacterial infection in a detainee’s leg that deteriorated to the point he could no longer walk and required emergency surgery.
Denial of Medication: we’ve received a remarkably high number of complaints about the refusal to provide prescription medication to individuals transferred to Glades County Detention Center. These individuals report being denied their medication for days and sometimes even weeks upon arrival. In one case, one man suffered a seizure in a Glades County housing unit after being denied his anti-seizure medication for five days.
Sexual Harassment: there have been reports of sexual harassment by guards and medical professionals, especially in regard to female and LGBTQ+ detainees.
Sexual Abuse: there were recent reports of sexual voyeurism by Glades County Officers and at least one individual reported being groped during an unnecessary and retaliatory stripe search.
Toxic Chemical Spray: there have been many reports and investigations regarding the use of a toxic chemical spray at Glades County Detention Center, which was the subject of a recent article by Scientific American.
Food Contamination: detained individuals report being served food with bugs in it and rotten meat.
Denial of Personal Hygiene Items: detained individuals report being denied basic hygiene items such as soap and toilet paper.
Lack of COVID-19 Protection/Protocol: Since the beginning of the pandemic, there have been numerous complaints regarding the lack of COVID-19 protections and protocols, including the failure of Florida detention centers failing to quarantine infected patients and not allowing for socially distancing. Florida detention centers are subject to a recent settlement agreement compelling them to institute protocols in compliance with ICE standard and CDC protocols.
Unsanitary Conditions: Detained individuals consistently report unsanitary conditions such as a lack of hot water, molded bathrooms, out of service bathrooms, and moldy laundry.
Retaliatory Transfer/Deportation: individuals report being targeted by ICE or the detention facility officers for publicly reporting complaints. Such retaliation includes transfers and deportation.
Harassment Intimidation: detained individuals commonly report various types of harassment and intimidation at the hands of detention officers, often exhibiting racialized or immigrant-bias.
Racial Targeting: there have been several recent complaints about Glades County Officers targeting Black immigrants, including racial slurs, intimidation, and physical assaults. A recent incident is the subject of a complaint filed with the Department of Homeland Security, Office of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties.
Access to Outside Communication: as a means of retaliation, individuals report that their access to phones and tablets for messaging and video calls is cut off after they have made public reports of the abuses suffered at Glades County Detention Center.