Amnesty Report Details Torture and Disappearances in Florida Prisons

The report, titled "Torture and Enforced Disappearances in the Sunshine State," documents how Florida has become a testing ground for aggressive immigration enforcement under Governor Ron DeSantis. At the Everglades facility, officials reportedly use a 2x2 foot "box" to restrain detainees for hours at a time, while nearly 1,000 men have effectively been "administratively disappeared" from federal tracking systems, leaving families and lawyers without information on their whereabouts.

Conditions at Krome are equally dire. Detainees report severe medical neglect, overcrowding, and physical violence by staff, with four deaths recorded at the facility this year alone. Despite the presence of medical infrastructure, access remains restricted, leaving many to wait weeks for basic care. Amnesty researchers directly observed guards using excessive force, including slamming confinement doors on detainees' hands. These revelations follow a 50% increase in the state's immigration detention population since January, supported by over $360 million in no-bid contracts. Amnesty is now calling for an immediate end to punitive confinement practices and a total overhaul of the federal detention machine.