The United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) recorded the intake of nearly 6,000 people in detention centers in the Miami area as of July, while preparing to open four new facilities with a combined capacity for 5,500 detainees, according to documents obtained by NBC News.
A spokesperson for ICE indicated that, as of July 26, approximately 4,300 people remained in custody in the Miami area, a figure that reflects the scale of immigration operations in the region.
For the new facility in Miami, federal documents specify that ICE is seeking a center with a minimum capacity for 700 detainees, located within a 50-mile radius of its local office. The other centers would be in Denver, Seattle, and Philadelphia.
The Department of Homeland Security expects to award the contracts during the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2026, which ends on September 30. The facilities must be ready to receive detainees within 30 days after the award.
Immigrant advocacy organizations have warned about an increase in arrests in South Florida and advised individuals without immigration status to avoid unnecessary travel.
"We ask those without immigration status to please not travel unless absolutely necessary," stated Yareliz Méndez-Zamora from the American Friends Service Committee.
Thomas Kennedy from the Florida Immigrant Coalition described the situation in concrete terms: "We are seeing immigration control operations throughout South Florida, in Miami-Dade and Homestead."
The ICE processing center in Miramar, originally designed for appointments and routine immigration procedures, is now effectively functioning as a temporary detention facility, according to reports from activists and lawmakers.
Sylvia Muñoz, an activist from the Miramar Protection Circle, was straightforward: «The conditions inside are deplorable».
Javier García went to the center to deliver clothes to two friends who had been detained. He reported that both of them told him that access to the showers was limited.
The congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz made an unannounced visit to the Miramar center in early July. The legislator reported that she found around 150 detainees spread across four holding spaces, with only one exposed toilet in each.
According to their description, about 70 men were packed into a space of approximately 15 by 15 feet, while around 40 women occupied another area of about seven by 14 feet.
"You have to make your way to the corner and use the bathroom in front of other people; in the case of women, in front of about 50," declared Wasserman Schultz.
The consequences of the arrests also extend to minors. Lindsey McElroy from the Guatemalan Maya Center narrated the case of a girl whose father had been deported a month earlier and whose mother was detained that very morning.
The organization has helped send 45 children to their parents' countries of origin amidst the family separations caused by detentions and deportations.
The pressure on immigrant communities intensified with the expiration of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for over 300,000 Haitians in the United States. The protection remained in effect until July 27 due to a brief judicial extension.
Florida housed approximately 158,000 Haitian TPS beneficiaries, according to estimates published in January 2026.
The ICE office in Miami, whose jurisdiction includes Florida, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, had become the primary hub for immigration detentions in the country.
That office has accumulated over 41,000 arrests since January 2025, including nearly 9,880 during the early months of 2026, more than any other ICE office in the United States.
The Cuban community is among the most affected: the arrests of Cuban migrants increased by 463% between October 2024 and January 2026.
Furthermore, 42,084 Cubans had outstanding final deportation orders, according to data from the Department of Homeland Security as of November 2025.
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