December 4, 2020
Michael W. Meade
Field Office Director
Miami Field Office, Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO)
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)
U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
865 SW 78th Avenue Suite 101
Plantation, FL, 33324
Phone: (954) 236-4900
Miami.outreach@ice.dhs.gov
Re: Inadequate Medical Care and Women’s Health at ICE Detention Facilities in Florida Dear Director Meade,
We, the undersigned organizations, write to you to regarding growing concerns about reports of grossly inadequate medical care being provided to detained persons, and particularly immigrant women, within your jurisdiction (including, but not limited to, Krome Service Processing Center, Broward Transitional Center, Glades County Detention Center, Wakulla County Facility, and Baker County Facility).
Complaints of inadequate medical care in ICE custody nationwide have continued on a regular basis despite repeated calls for extra vigilance in patient care during the COVID-19 pandemic, which has exacerbated unhealthy conditions at your facilities. Detention facilities are simply not designed or equipped to handle this unprecedented public health crisis, as demonstrated by the fact that your agency recently confirmed its twentieth death in detention during Fiscal Year 2020. This is the deadliest year since Fiscal Year 2005, and the third deadliest in the agency’s 17-year history. Choosing to continue to detain people under these dire circumstances is costing lives.
