The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) and Americans for Immigrant Justice filed a federal class action lawsuit against ICE this Friday over the conditions at its Field Office in Miramar, Florida, an administrative center turned into a de facto detention facility where thousands of Cubans with I-220A forms attend routine reporting appointments.
The complaint, filed on behalf of all the detainees in the facility, alleges that ICE has systematically violated the Fifth Amendment by holding individuals for days under conditions that lawyers describe as "dehumanizing and dangerous," while also failing to adhere to the agency's own internal policy that limits such detentions to 12 hours.
The lawsuit describes detainees forced to sleep on concrete floors covered only with aluminum blankets, severely overcrowded cells, toilets exposed to surveillance cameras, a lack of food and water for extended periods, and a complete absence of medical staff.
This is compounded by the blocking of phone calls, the refusal to allow visits from lawyers, and the outdated ICE detainee locator, which prevents families and legal representatives from locating their loved ones.
"We ask the court to require ICE to stop using Miramar as the detention center it was never intended to be. Denying them beds, food, water, medical care —basic necessities— is dehumanizing and dangerous, and ICE must be held accountable," stated A.J. Hernandez Anderson, deputy legal director of the SPLC.
Paul R. Chavez, director of litigation at AI Justice, stated that "families come forward to comply with immigration law, but instead they are held for days in deplorable conditions that include overcrowded floors without beds, no medical assistance, exposed toilets, and limited access to lawyers."
For Cubans with I-220A —the supervision order that allows them to remain free while their immigration case progresses— Miramar is the main check-in point in South Florida.
Since 2025, multiple Cubans have been detained when attending these appointments, and the arrests of Cubans by ICE in Florida increased by 463% between late 2024 and early 2026.
Among the documented cases is that of a Cuban living with HIV identified as "Mayito," who reported in September that he slept on the floor alongside 60 men without receiving his antiretrovirals. Also notable is the case of Christian Omar González, 27 years old and with no criminal record, detained since August 5, whose mother publicly pleaded: "Please help me get my boy out of there, because I can't take it anymore."
The photos leaked by an anonymous source in September revealed that the facility, which has a capacity for between 50 and 56 people, housed 342 detainees at the same time.
As a class action lawsuit, if the judge certifies it, its effects would benefit all detainees in the facility, not just the named plaintiffs in the complaint.
The Supreme Court of the United States is set to review this month whether ICE can detain migrants classified as "arriving aliens" without bail, a category that directly affects dozens of Cubans detained in Florida, and the outcome could alter the legal landscape for many of them.
Esta demanda es parte de un panorama migratorio en constante cambio que afecta a miles de cubanos en Florida. Sigue toda la actualidad sobre deportaciones, detenciones y derechos en nuestra sección de
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