Detainees in immigrant detention facilities in Orlando and Miramar are living in extremely overcrowded cells, using bathrooms overflowing with waste, and sleeping chained on the floor, according to a new whistleblower report first reported by the Miami Herald.
Congressional Democrats on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform released photos and allegations from whistleblowers in a letter Monday.
Orlando detainees at times only have standing room in holding cells and aren’t allowed outside for weeks at a time. Staff were initially instructed to shackle people for 24 hours a day, the oversight committee says.
The committee reports black mold in air vents and that “individuals have reported respiratory discomfort and headaches.”
And the facility deleted booking records for people they accidentally detained against court orders, the Democrats say.
In both the Orlando and Miramar facilities, detainees are reportedly living in the same clothes and underwear for weeks. They are without access to hygiene products — including menstrual products and soap.
The Orlando facility is part of the Orlando Sub-Field Office, which is located at 9495 Delegates Drive, the letter states.
“ICE is detaining people… for days to weeks in abusive and life-threatening conditions, including overcrowded cells, prolonged shackling, inadequate access to medical care and hygiene, insufficient food, and limited to no legal access. ICE is simultaneously attempting to cover up these horrific practices,” the letter states.
The unidentified whistleblowers’ photos depict Miramar detainees sleeping while restrained with handcuffs, leg irons and belly chains. Even elderly people are chained for 16 hours a day, the letter says.
“Trump’s immigration detention system is as cruel as it is unnecessary. … This new whistleblower report reinforces what has long been documented about immigration detention facilities — a system being used to punish people rather than uphold basic human dignity and justice,” said Orlando Rep. Maxwell Frost in a statement.
The report comes just days after federal investigators found “Alligator Alcatraz” held detainees in cages the size of phone booths they called “calming areas.” The Everglades detention center is now shuttered.
A report from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Office of the Inspector General calls that practice “unprecedented” and said it presents “significant risks to detainee health and safety,” and “does not align with standards for humane treatment.” The report detailed failures to comply with standards for medical care, personal hygiene, environmental safety and food service.
According to the report, between July 17, 2025, and Jan. 18, 2026, the facility confined 79 detainees in the small metal enclosures. They were held for periods of time ranging from several minutes to just shy of two hours. It was “a practice unlike any OIG team has observed in ICE facilities.” The floor of the cages measured roughly 4 feet 3 inches by 4 feet 3 inches, and they stood 7 feet 9 inches tall, the report says.
See photos of the Miramar ICE facility below.
There are no available images of the Orlando facility as of Tuesday afternoon.
