A Cuban migrant identified as Mayito, a stylist residing in South Florida, reported that the Immigration and Customs Enforcement denied him access to his antiretroviral medications while he was held at the ICE-ERO Center in Miramar, South Florida. This was revealed to Local 10 by Rosanna Sopo-Elias, a close friend of the detainee.
Sopo-Elias, a resident of Hollywood, described Mayito as part of his "chosen family" and recounted that the man initially seemed resigned to being deported to Mexico: he handed over his dog and reassured her by saying that everything would be okay.
Three days later, the situation had changed radically.
El caso de «Mayito» pone de relieve las condiciones que enfrentan los migrantes detenidos por ICE. Sigue toda la información actualizada sobre detenciones, deportaciones y derechos migratorios en nuestra sección de
"It sounded like nothing I had ever heard before. He was hysterical, crying hysterically, shouting, begging me: 'Please, help me,'" Sopo-Elias described.
According to his account, the Cuban migrant was sleeping on the floor of a cell with 60 other men, without beds, without access to a shower, and with no opportunity to clean himself after getting dirty.
What alarmed the woman the most was the lack of medical attention: Mayito suffers from HIV and other conditions that require daily medication, but ICE did not provide him with any treatment.
When she suggested that he seek help from the facility staff, the man's response was blunt: "There is no medical staff here."
"These are very important medications that you cannot stop taking, especially all of a sudden," warned Sopo-Elias, who fears for his friend's life.
"My biggest fear is that he will die in there," he declared, clearly summarizing the situation: "This is inhumane; this is wrong. It doesn't matter what your legal status is. Everyone should be treated with human dignity."
The case of "Mayito" is not the only one. According to an investigation by the Miami Herald published in August, a Honduran migrant detained at the same facility also needed his daily medication for HIV but was unable to access it, even though the drugs were in his backpack, which was confiscated by ICE.
The revelation from Sopo-Elias comes days after photos leaked by an anonymous informant revealed extreme conditions in that same facility: detainees sleeping on the floor of a garage with no ventilation, overflowing portable toilets filled with human waste, bags of garbage piled next to food tables, and people brushing their teeth with water from a hose outdoors.
The center, designed for routine administrative appointments with a maximum capacity of 50 people, ended up housing 342 detainees simultaneously, more than six times its limit.
Democratic lawmakers of the House Committee on Oversight —Robert Garcia, Bennie Thompson, and Maxwell Frost— released those images on September 21 and sent a formal letter to the acting director of ICE, David J. Venturella, and the Inspector General of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Joseph V. Cuffari, demanding the preservation and submission of records before October 5.
In July, Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz conducted a surprise inspection at the ICE center in Miramar and found over 150 people in four rooms designed for 56, with an average of one medical emergency per day necessitating a call to 911.
Thomas Kennedy, spokesperson for the Florida Immigration Coalition, was emphatic: "They are detaining people illegally. For more than the 12 hours allowed by law. This is not a detention center; these are ICE administrative offices being used as a detention center."
In response to the complaints, a spokesperson for the DHS did not address the specific conditions of the facility and only noted that the government offers $3,000 and a free flight to those who choose voluntary self-deportation through the CBP Home app. "Being detained is a choice," he said.
Related videos:
Filed under: