Conditions inside the Federal Detention Center in downtown Miami — housing hundreds of undocumented immigrants — are adequate and "not inhumane," said Miami Congressman Carlos Giménez on Tuesday following a planned tour of the facility.
"It's not someplace I'd like to visit, but it's not inhumane," said Giménez, R-Miami. "There was nothing there that I saw that would cause me any kind of concern."
Speaking to reporters outside the facility, Giménez said he was told that about 300 immigrants were being housed in the prison and that it was "well within" capacity, and that detainees had access to doctors, dentists and other health professionals.
"It's not a hotel; it's a prison," said Giménez, who noted that only men — no women or children — were being housed in the facility.
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The Republican lawmaker visited the prison — and plans to visit the Krome Detention Center — in response to a Miami Herald investigative story about harsh conditions and improper use of force on detainees at the Miami facility. The Herald reported the Federal Bureau of Prisons signed a contract with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to keep suspected undocumented immigrants in prisons amid overcrowding at ICE detention centers.
The Federal Detention Center in downtown Miami has been housing immigrant detainees since February, a month after President Donald Trump was sworn into office and embarked on his promise to "launch the largest deportation program of criminals in the history of America."
Revealing my findings https://t.co/8gJ8dEi0QI
— Rep. Carlos A. Gimenez (@RepCarlos) June 17, 2025
Federal immigration agents have since rounded up and apprehended those here illegally — including those without criminal records — as part of the administration's deportation strategy.
The Miami Herald reported that six detainees described one incident in April when prison officials "launched crowd-control grenades and sprayed what appeared to them as rubber bullets or pellets into a room with about 50 detainees in response to their protests over lack of water, food, and medication." The detainees told the Herald that they overflowed toilets to get the attention of officers. Two detainees have since filed lawsuits.
Giménez confirmed that an incident involving more than 40 detainees had occurred after the immigrant refused to obey orders from prison officials.
"There had to be force," he said. "They knocked over and knocked down some sprinkler systems and were looking to rip out some toilets."
Giménez there were no serious injuries in connection with the disturbance.
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