The Glades County Detention Center, at 1297 East
State Road 78 in remote
Moore Haven, Florida, United States, opened in 2007 with 440 beds. Operated by the
Glades County Sheriff's Office, besides Glades County arrestees, 90% of its beds house
Immigration and Customs Enforcement
The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is a federal law enforcement agency under the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. ICE's stated mission is to protect the United States from the cross-border crime and illegal immigration th ...
detainees, which were previously spread around many county jails. It is
Glades County's largest employer. It has been the site of widespread abuses, and in 2022, 17 members of Congress asked that it be closed.
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2018–2020 complaints
In 2018, Muslims complained of not being able to observe Ramadan, with Christians, according to them, receiving preferential treatment.
In 2019, a group of Muslim inmates filed suit alleging they were denied "adequate prayer services, copies of the Quran
The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , s ...
, religious headwear, and religiously compliant diets. When asked by one detained immigrant why Muslims were treated so disfavorably, the chaplain replied, 'Boy, you’re in Glades County.'"
In April of 2020, the Southern Poverty Law Center
The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit legal advocacy organization specializing in civil rights and public interest litigation. Based in Montgomery, Alabama, it is known for its legal cases against white s ...
, the Immigration Clinic at the University of Miami School of Law
The University of Miami School of Law (Miami Law or UM Law) is the law school of the University of Miami, a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida.
Founded in 1926, the University of Miami School of Law is the oldest law school i ...
, and other plaintiffs sued the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency and the U.S. Attorney General. They sought the release of inmates at Glades and its other south Florida centers, Krome Processing Center in Miami-Dade
Miami-Dade County is a county located in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Florida. The county had a population of 2,701,767 as of the 2020 census, making it the most populous county in Florida and the seventh-most populous county in ...
and the Broward Transitional Center in Pompano Beach
Pompano Beach ( ) is a city in Broward County, Florida, United States. It is located along the coast of the Atlantic Ocean, just north of Fort Lauderdale. The nearby Hillsboro Inlet forms part of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway. As of the 2020 ...
, claiming that ICE was not following CDC
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is the national public health agency of the United States. It is a United States federal agency, under the Department of Health and Human Services, and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgi ...
guidelines to minimize COVID-19
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...
transmission. (Other Florida counties whose detention centers have contracts to house ICE detainees are Baker, Collier, Monroe, Pinellas
Pinellas is the name of a peninsula located roughly halfway down the west coast of Florida. It forms the western boundary of Tampa Bay and comprises the bulk of Pinellas County. There is a city named Pinellas Park in south Pinellas. The peninsula ...
, and Wakulla.)
2021 complaints
In February of 2021, a civil rights complaint, described as "scathing" in a newspaper, was filed by three immigrants' rights organizations with the Inspector General and the Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties in the Department of Homeland Security. Although the Glades County center "has ranked among the nation’s most COVID-riddled detention centers." According to the complaint, masks and Covid tests are not available, temperatures are only taken irregularly, and the center's one doctor had Covid and did not wear a mask. Detainees reporting abuses are punished. A civil rights complaint was filed March 4 with the Office of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties under the Department of Homeland Security concerning what were described as retaliatory actions against two of the plaintiffs in the February complaint.