Protesters lined up outside of the Krome Detention Center in western Miami-Dade County following a USA Today report that revealed allegations of mistreatment of female detainees at the facility.
They lined up outside the main entrance on Saturday, calling for change. The protest came days after the allegations surfaced, as Krome is meant to house male detainees.
Protest organizer Bryson Holtzer told CBS News Miami she was disturbed by what she read.
“Regardless of somebody’s citizenship status, a human deserves to be treated as a human,” Holtzer said.
Reporter’s interview
USA Today reporter Lauren Villagran detailed the allegations in the story she published earlier this week.
“They described being run through the corridors by guards while men in their rooms looked on,” Villagran told CBS News Miami during an interview earlier this week. “They were also allegedly held in cells with up to 30 women in a tiny space with two toilets, no stalls and with cameras trained on them.”
ICE responds to allegations
In a statement, an ICE spokesperson said: “ICE takes its commitment to promoting safe, secure, humane environments for those in our custody very seriously. These allegations are not in keeping with ICE policies, practices and standards of care.”
“While the Krome Detention Center is a facility that houses only males, it is not uncommon for female detainees to be staged at Krome. This happens as the agency works on transferring the female detainees to another detention center or while they are waiting for their removal flight,” the spokesperson added. “During the staging process, female detainees are not placed into the general population, thus male detainees to do not have access to female detainees.”
ICE said they can’t substantiate the allegations without specific dates and names. Agency officials also told CBS News Miami that some facilities are experiencing overcrowding due to larger increases in detention populations and that they’re working on moving some detainees to facilities with more capacity.
