Florida immigration detention centers are sites of documented torture including a punitive cage device, prolonged solitary confinement, unsanitary conditions, and enforced disappearances facilitated by the absence of any tracking system. At least six people died in Florida ICE facilities since October 2024.
Amnesty International conducted a research trip to southern Florida in September 2025 and published findings in December 2025 documenting systematic human rights violations at two immigration detention facilities
'Alligator Alcatraz' (Everglades Detention Facility) operates OUTSIDE federal oversight, without the basic tracking systems used in ICE facilities — the absence of registration or tracking mechanisms facilitates incommunicado detention constituting enforced disappearance
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Updated March 25, 2026Deportation to Torture
War Crime / Crime Against HumanityOngoingReported record
Over 260 Venezuelans were secretly deported to CECOT, where HRW documented torture, sexual violence, prolonged incommunicado detention, and denial of basic necessities. Many deportees had no criminal history and were asylum seekers.
260+ Venezuelan nationals were secretly deported to CECOT between March and April 2025, without notice to families or attorneys, constituting enforced disappearance under international law.
HRW's 'You Have Arrived in Hell' report documented regular and severe physical abuse, sexual violence (at least 3 cases including forced oral sex), psychological abuse, and prolonged incommunicado detention.
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Updated March 25, 2026Deportation to Torture
War Crime / Crime Against HumanityOngoingReported record
Systematic forced disappearances of Salvadoran nationals deported from the US, held incommunicado in Salvadoran prisons including CECOT with no access to lawyers, families, or courts. The US bears responsibility for knowingly deporting individuals to a country practicing enforced disappearance — a crime against humanity under the Rome Statute.
Human Rights Watch documented 11 cases of Salvadorans deported from the US between mid-March and mid-October 2025 who were immediately detained upon arrival and held incommunicado.
None of the deportees have been allowed to communicate with their relatives or lawyers. None have been brought before a judge.
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Updated March 25, 2026Deportation to Torture
War Crime / Crime Against HumanityOngoingReported record
A secret $6 million contract enabled the US to outsource detention to El Salvador's CECOT mega-prison, where HRW documented systematic torture. The unreleased agreement created an unprecedented mechanism to evade domestic legal protections by transferring detainees to a foreign torture facility.
The US paid $6 million to El Salvador to detain deportees at CECOT, a mega-prison where HRW documented systematic torture including sexual violence, beatings, and prolonged incommunicado detention.
The agreement was negotiated during Secretary Rubio's February 2025 visit to El Salvador and finalized as a written deal that has never been publicly released, despite its unprecedented nature.
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Updated March 25, 2026Deportation to Torture
War Crime / Crime Against HumanityOngoingActive litigation
Immigrants transferred to Guantanamo Bay face conditions amounting to torture: 23+ hour solitary confinement, punishment chairs, physical abuse, and incommunicado detention. ACLU and CCR lawsuits challenge the offshore detention as unconstitutional and beyond the authority of the Immigration and Nationality Act.
Approximately 500 immigrants transferred to Guantanamo Bay Migrant Operations Center since January 2025, with executive order calling for expansion to 30,000-person capacity.
Detainees held in solitary, windowless cells for 23+ hours per day, constantly shackled, subjected to invasive strip searches and a 'punishment chair' for hours as punishment.
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Updated March 25, 2026Deportation to Torture
Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law ConcernOngoingReported record
46 deaths in ICE custody since January 2025 mark a two-decade high. ICE's October 2025 halt of medical care payments left detainees without access to health services as the detention population reached record levels, creating conditions that contributed to preventable deaths.
46 people have died in ICE custody or detention facilities since January 2025 — a two-decade high, with 2025 seeing the highest death rate (5.6 per 10,000 detainees) since the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic.
ICE halted payments to medical care contractors in October 2025 after the VA terminated a longstanding reimbursement agreement, leaving detention facilities without funded medical services.