The U.S. has one of the largest immigrant detention programs in the world, using jails, prisons, and facilities owned by private, for-profit companies to house detained migrants. Although a growing body of research has identified many of the harms of migrant detention programs, few studies have examined the experience of migrant detention from the perspective of those detained. Our goal in this report was to better understand the lived experiences of migrant detainees. 

This independent analysis was conducted by the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice of Northeastern University using both public documents and complaints submitted to the ACLU of Florida’s Immigration Detention Database.

The report provides first-hand accounts of people detained in Florida Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention centers for the past six years. The horrifying conditions of confinement about which people most frequently spoke include denial of basic necessities, such as soap, toilet paper, and sanitary pads; unsafe and unsanitary facilities, including moldy walls and bugs crawling out of the drains; as well as the scarcity of edible food and reports of moldy and rotten food.

Its findings confirm the alarming conditions and unconstitutional practices that trend in Florida detention centers. It follows the news of a former medical practitioner who came forth as a whistleblower and disclosed intentional fraud and record manipulation by Baker County Detention Center staff. The account of the whistleblower’s experience at Baker affirms the patterns of abuse and neglect documented in this new report. 

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• Read more about Hidden Suffering: An Inside Look at the Living Conditions in Florida’s Immigration Detention System