Trump administration to resume housing detained immigrants in controversial Florida facility

Ana Ceballos and Syra Ortiz Blanes, Miami Herald on Apr 2, 2025

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MIAMI — The Trump administration will resume housing detained immigrants in Glades County Detention Center, just three years after the facility’s use was limited for what the federal government said were “persistent and ongoing concerns” with detainees’ well-being.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement said in a statement Wednesday that the county-operated detention facility, located just west of Lake Okeechobee, will “enhance the agency’s ability to manage the region’s growing enforcement and removal operation” by adding up to 500 additional beds.

“The central location streamlines logistics and helps facilitate the timely processing of illegal aliens in our custody that are subject to arrest, detention and removal from our country,” said acting Miami ICE Field Office Director Juan Agudelo.

The decision to resume the use of the Central Florida facility comes as the Trump administration ramps up its mass-deportation efforts in Florida and across the country. The facility, which is operated by the Glades County Sheriff’s office, is able to house immigrants on behalf of the federal government through a contract between ICE and the Glades County Board of County Commissioners.

In recent years, local activists and community leaders have denounced the use of the Glades County facility, which faced numerous complaints of medical negligence, constitutional rights violations and sexual misconduct. Former detainees said that guards watched women while they showered. Other detainees also complained that a carbon monoxide leak at the facility once led to several people getting sick and being hospitalized.

In response to the claims, members of Congress, led by Democratic Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, called for the Department of Homeland Security to terminate its contract with the detention facility. In 2022, the Biden administration moved to limit the use of the county facility due to “persistent and ongoing concerns” related to detainee medical care, and described the facility as one of “limited operational significance.”

It is unclear whether the Glades County facility has made changes to address the concerns that led the federal government to limit the use of the facility for several years. The Glades County Sheriff’s Office did not respond to a request seeking comment. Federal authorities did not address it either in a Wednesday statement.

“What is missing from any decision to reopen Glades is whether they have even come close to addressing the gross deficiencies that required them to close in the first place,” said Katie Blankenship, immigration attorney and co-founding partner for Sanctuary of the South. “ICE knows that Glades is unsafe for people. This is a level of inhumane treatment that the government has to be held accountable for.”

The facility’s reopening will offer more detention capacity in Florida as state officials work to figure out ways to help the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.

Its space could also alleviate overcrowding conditions at Krome North Service Processing Center in Miami, one of the four ICE detention facilities in the state.

In recent weeks, Krome detainees have complained about being forced to sleep on cement floors and being left in shackles and chains on buses overnight without access to bathrooms. Public records show that about 600 people are being held there — but detainees and their attorney say the population appears to be much higher, and far exceeds the facility’s capacity. Last week, hundreds of people showed up outside the facility to protest the conditions.

As of March 28, county detention facilities in Florida reported they had 1,984 beds available to lease to ICE, according to a report issued by State Board of Immigration Enforcement Executive Director Larry Keefe that was sent to the Legislature.

Some facilities with space available report that they are currently understaffed, are in need of major repairs or are scheduled for future expansions, according to the report, which was provided to the Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times by the Florida Senate.

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