MIRAMAR, FLA. (WSVN) - A committee of congressional Democrats has gone public with images they say show cruel conditions inside federal immigration detention centers, including some in South Florida.
A whistleblower report has triggered an investigation by the Democrats, who are demanding answers from Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Department of Homeland Security officials.
The report includes pictures that members of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform say show poor conditions inside holding facilities like the one in Miramar and Orlando.
According to the whistleblower report, several detainees are forced to brush their teeth outside with water from a hose at the Miramar holding facility sally port.
Photos show bags of trash piling up throughout the center.
Other images capture four portable toilets which the whistleblower claims are used by over 100 detainees and are covered in human waste. Inside, the portable bathrooms are dirty and overflowing.
Several more photos show over 100 detainees at the sally port facility. The whistleblower claims the detainees are kept there for days and have to sleep on the floor.
On social media, Democrats on the House Oversight Committee claim that “…when sleeping in the sally port at Miramar, detainees are fully shackled in handcuffs, leg irons and belly chains.”
In a press release, U.S. Rep. Robert Garcia, the ranking member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, wrote in part:
“The Trump Administration is trying to cover up these disgusting and unsafe conditions and escape accountability, while countless lives are put in danger. ICE must immediately put an end to this inhumane treatment and give us answers on this horrific situation.”
7News reached out to Homeland Security about the report, but as of late Monday night, we have not heard back.
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