Immigrants at the Baker County Detention Center in Macclenny, Florida are experiencing a range of abuses, including excessive use of force, extreme medical neglect, racist harassment, retaliation, voyeurism, impediments to accessing legal counsel, and lack of adequate hygiene and food.
Baker County Detention Center has a long history of human rights abuses and horrific conditions. We need to shut it down immediately.
Jump to Section
- Timeline of Events at Baker
- Tell Those in Power to Shut Down Baker
- Voices From Baker
- Shut Down Baker Coalition
- Get Engaged by Signing Up to Volunteer
- Additional Resources
Timeline of Events at Baker
Since 2017, over 135 complaints have been reported documenting mistreatment and abusive conditions at Baker. This past summer, advocacy organizations filed two federal civil rights complaints on behalf of multiple individuals suffering inside the facility. The recent reports of mistreatment at Baker are part of a systemic culture of abusive and inhumane treatment of immigrants in Baker’s care. The complaints against Baker have been mounting for over a decade, but here is a brief timeline of what has transpired at Baker County Detention Center:
Tell Those in Power to Shut Down Baker
Tell ICE Officials to Shut Down Baker
ICE has the power to permanently end its contract with the Baker County Sheriff’s Office, which has proven it cannot responsibly and humanely care for human beings but instead puts them in danger and causes them harm. Send an email to ICE officials to urge them to end their contract with the Baker County Sheriff’s Office and shut down this facility once and for all.
Voices From Baker
Shut Down Baker Coalition
We aren’t the only ones concerned about Baker. A coalition of national and local organizations have come together in an attempt to shut down Baker, advocating for ICE to terminate its contract with Baker County.
Coalition members for the Shut Down Baker campaign include, but are not limited to:
- ACLU FL
- AI Justice
- American Friends Service Committee
- Detention Watch Network
- Doctors for Camp Closures Florida Chapter
- Florida Immigrant Coalition (FLIC)
- Florida State University Farmworker & Immigration Rights Clinic
- Freedom for Immigrants
- Immigrant Action Alliance
- Interfaith Alliance for Immigrant Justice
- Southern Poverty Law Center
- University of Florida Immigration Clinic
- University of Miami School of Law Immigration Clinic
Get Engaged by Signing Up to Volunteer
We invite you to join our Floridians for Immigrant Justice Campaign volunteer team. We have active teams working to make our state better for immigrants. You can learn more by visiting: https://www.aclufl.org/en/campaigns/floridians-immigrant-justice. Join us by filling out our campaign volunteer form.
Additional Resources
Complaints and Litigation
- ACLU of Florida Sues Sheriff’s Office for Denying Immigrants Right to Counsel, September 26, 2022
- Multiple Organizations File Federal Complaint Against ICE Detention Center for Abuses and Medical Neglect, September 13, 2022
- ACLU of Florida Letter to ICE regarding Conditions at Baker Detention Center, July 26, 2022
- ‘A Living Hell’: New Federal Complaint Lodged by Immigrants in Florida Detention Center Exposes Horrid Abuses, July 21, 2022
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