JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A Florida immigration attorney is raising concerns about what she describes as widespread overcrowding, delays and civil rights violations inside the state’s immigration detention system.
Her comments come after a detainee held at a state-run Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Baker County shared his experience with News4JAX.
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Macario Pablo-Reyes has been detained at a Baker County facility for more than a month after being taken into custody by ICE while attempting to renew his work permit. He said he has received little information about his case and has been unable to get legal assistance.
“I’ve been locked up in here for almost four weeks, and I still don’t know what’s going to happen to me because there’s no one to give you information,” Pablo-Reyes said.
For 29 days, his family said they were left uncertain about when or if he would be deported to Mexico. Pablo-Reyes said the lack of answers has been frustrating.
“Because I’m just wasting time here,” he said.
After News4JAX contacted ICE, Pablo-Reyes’ family learned he is expected to be transferred to a detention facility in Texas next week. However, there is still no clear timeline for when he may be deported.
Immigration attorney Renata Castro said Pablo-Reyes’ case is not unusual. She said Florida is not equipped to handle the volume of detainees moving through ICE facilities, leading to what she described as a bureaucratic backlog.
Castro said the federal government carried out large-scale immigration raids without adequately planning for the aftermath.
“The government didn’t really think through all the steps of carrying out these massive immigration raids, and in the process, just violated due process for a lot of individuals, including those that have status in the United States,” Castro said.
ICE has told News4JAX that all detainees receive full due process.
According to Castro, overcrowding has contributed to multiple problems, including delays in listing detainees in ICE’s online locator system, disorderly transfers between facilities, and prolonged waits for hearings. She also said some detainees who wish to voluntarily leave the country are not being given that opportunity.
Castro said detainees are often denied timely bond hearings and may go days without access to attorneys or translators. Frequent transfers without clear documentation can make it difficult for families and lawyers to locate detainees.
She said the uncertainty has taken a toll on detainees’ mental health, particularly those who have not been charged with crimes.
“About 70% to 75% of the calls I receive now are from people suffering anxiety because they don’t know what tomorrow looks like,” Castro said.
News4JAX reached out to ICE for current population levels and capacity at its 17 detention facilities across Florida, which include federal, private and state-run sites. ICE did not immediately respond.