29675: Hermantin(News)Overcrowding, delays fuel tensions at Krome again (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>


KROME DETENTION CENTER

Overcrowding, delays fuel tensions at Krome again
Overcrowding and deportation delays upset detainees at Krome where anger and 
boredom sometimes combine to raise tensions.

BY CASEY WOODS, NICOLE WHITE AND ALFONSO CHARDY
achardy@MiamiHerald.com

Tensions appear to be rising again at the Krome detention center in West 
Miami-Dade, prompting a senior federal immigration official -- escorted by 
riot-equipped officers -- to meet with angry detainees recently at the 
overcrowded facility.

Michael Rozos, field office director for U.S. Immigration and Customs 
Enforcement's Florida office of detention and removal, went to a Krome 
dormitory Dec. 8 accompanied by a ''disturbance control team'' and spoke to the 
detainees, said agency spokeswoman Barbara Gonzalez. She said team members were 
``dressed appropriately.''

The episode was the most serious at the facility since it began to experience 
overcrowding conditions in the summer. In a separate incident, two detainees 
fought in another dormitory on the same day Haitian and Jamaican detainees 
refused to leave their dormitory to protest delays in travel papers from their 
consulates so they can be deported, according to immigration officials. It was 
the episode involving the Haitians and Jamaicans that brought Rozos to the 
Krome dormitory.

A Haitian detainee and a Miami immigrant rights activist said the root cause 
was continuing overcrowding at Krome whose publicly-stated capacity of about 
580 detainees has been exceeded for months. The Haitian detainee, who asked 
that his name not be published for fear it might jeopardize his case, estimated 
the current Krome population at more than 1,000.

Gonzalez said Thursday the number of detainees at Krome was 927. Gonzalez added 
that 120 will be transferred elsewhere Tuesday and 50 others will be deported 
soon.

In late September, dozens of detainees signed a letter to The Miami Herald 
complaining about conditions. Another group of 255 detainees complained about 
overcrowding in November.

''The campus is overcrowded like sardines,'' the November letter said, adding 
that the packed facility was ``causing a lot of tension that leads to 
confrontations, unsanitary dorm, showers, and clogged toilets . . .'

Ralph Latortue, the Haitian consul in Miami, went to Krome Wednesday for his 
annual holiday visit with Haitian detainees and heard complaints.

Latortue told The Miami Herald that 60 of the 83 Haitians at Krome complained 
of mistreatment, lack of medical attention and overcrowding. He said some of 
the detainees, particularly those with criminal records, complained about 
delays in travel documents so they can be deported to Haiti.

Under current Haitian government regulations, he said, Haitians with criminal 
records can receive travel documents to reenter Haiti only if authorities in 
Port-au-Prince approve the return, which can take months. Latortue said 75 
percent of the 83 Haitians at Krome have criminal records.

Haitians without criminal records, he said, receive travel papers directly from 
the consulate within days.

Latortue said that during his meeting at Krome, some of the Haitian detainees 
told him about an incident last Friday that involved an ``altercation with 
guards.''

At least two detainees who were witnesses told a Florida Immigrant Advocacy 
Center lawyer that a guard pushed and ''punched'' a detainee, as other agitated 
detainees watched, according to Cheryl Little, the group's executive director.

Gonzalez said that though the dormitory protest was largely peaceful, an 
allegation was later made ''against a guard.'' She had no details.

''We take all allegations very seriously and it will be thoroughly investigated 
and appropriate action will be taken,'' Gonzalez said.

She said the Haitian and Jamaican detainees expressed frustrations without 
violence -- largely refusing to leave their pod or dormitory to take meals.

Gonzalez said all detainees in that dormitory have criminal records and some 
are ``sex offenders, murderers, the most egregious offenders.''

The detainees voiced frustration at the delay in travel papers, though some 
also talked ''about the amount of people at Krome,'' she said.

A worker at the facility who asked not to be identified because the worker did 
not have authorization to speak on the matter said guards interrupted some 
immigration court proceedings during the episode.

In a separate dormitory two detainees became involved in a fight. Gonzalez said 
one of the detainees was sent to a special holding unit and the other to the 
infirmary with minor injuries.

''There was an altercation between two detainees, but it was not related to the 
pod where the Haitians and Jamaicans were expressing their frustration,'' said 
Gonzalez.

Ricardo Allicock, the Jamaican consul, visited Krome on Monday to meet with the 
more than 50 Jamaican detainees. Allicock said many of the detainees were 
frustrated that they would not spend the holidays with their families back home 
because they have yet to be deported.

''Their main concern is that Christmas approaches and they would like to go 
home,'' he said. ``Everyone that's been detained at Krome, including Jamaicans, 
would like to get moving. Sooner than later.''

The majority of the Jamaicans there have been waiting to be deported less than 
two months, he said. Allicock said he understood there was a longer process for 
those with criminal records.

Little and a Haitian detainee attributed the tense atmosphere to crowded 
conditions.

''There are just too many people here right now,'' the detainee said. ``We all 
are just desperate to get out.''

Said Little: ``People are very unhappy because folks are not being released and 
it's becoming more and more overcrowded. It's getting dirty inside, and people 
are getting ill because of it.''

Little said one of her lawyers went to Krome Dec. 8 and was told by a guard 
that there was a ''riot'' and that the facility was in ``lockdown.''

''[The lawyer] was told that the he couldn't go in, and that he better check 
before coming over the weekend because it might still be in lockdown,'' Little 
said.

Gonzalez said there was no lockdown. Visiting hours proceeded normally last 
weekend.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Miami Herald staff writer Gladys Amador contributed to this report.

_________________________________________________________________
Get free, personalized commercial-free online radio with MSN Radio powered by 
Pandora http://radio.msn.com/?icid=T002MSN03A07001