Immigration
Activists target South Florida ICE detention center group by leaving body bags on grounds
Protesters used toe-tagged body bags to decry the “abuse and deaths” at detention centers in South Florida during the coronavirus pandemic.
Their target: GEO Group, a third-party contractor in Boca Raton that operates several adult detention centers for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. GEO Group runs one ICE detention center in Florida, the Broward Transitional Center in Miramar.
The unidentified activists’ collective — it is not clear how many — placed 14 empty body bags that were toe-tagged with 12 of the names of people who have died in ICE custody between July 25, 2019, and Wednesday, May 13. Two were marked unidentified but included the date.
Many died before COVID-19 originated in December in Wuhan, China, and before its spread was discovered in the United States in late January, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Names on the body bags
▪ Oscar Lopez Acosta, May 13, 2020.
▪ Carlos Ernesto Escobar-Mejia, May 6.
▪ Ramiro Hernandez-Ibarra, March 21.
▪ Unnamed 27-year old Honduran man, March 19.
▪ Maria Celeste Ochoa Yoc de Ramirez, March 8.
▪ David Hernandez Colula, Feb. 21.
▪ Ben James Owen, Jan. 25.
▪ Unnamed 63-year-old Cuban man, Jan. 27.
▪ Samuelino Pitchout Mavinga, Jan. 1.
▪ Anthony Oluseye Akinyemi, Dec. 23, 2019.
▪ Roylan Hernandez-Diaz, Oct. 16.
▪ Nebane Abienwi, Oct. 2.
▪ Roberto Rodriguez-Espinoza, Sept. 12.
▪ Pedro Arriago-Santoya, July 25.
A sign on the grounds
Friends of Miami-Dade Detainees released a quote from a 34-year-old Somalian man who is at Krome detention center through the group’s spokeswoman and volunteer, Nikki Morse.
“We’re scared for our lives right now. No one is getting tested, they keep bringing in new people every single day. I don’t want to die in here,” the detainee allegedly said.
Friends of Miami-Dade Detainees was not involved in Friday’s protest, Morse said.
“My understanding is that it was an autonomous group of South Florida activists who came together to create this art work to demand freedom and safety for those in immigration detention,” Morse said. “As far as I know, this wasn’t put together by an organization.”
Along with the body bags was a large painted sign reading “GEO KILLS. Free Them All!”
GEO Group ‘rejects’ protest
The Miami Herald reached out to the GEO Group for comment. A spokesperson for GEO Group responded, in part:
“We strongly reject these dangerous actions by radical groups, which have a history of advancing deliberate lies about our company and threatening the safety of our employees and property. We take our responsibility to ensure the health and safety of all those in our care and our employees with the utmost seriousness, and we reject efforts to advance a political agenda by misrepresenting the conditions in our facilities and denigrating the work of our front line employees who are showing up every day to ensure the safety and well-being of those entrusted to our care.
“Despite being well aware of the fact that our company plays no role in passing immigration laws, and that we have never taken a position on immigration policies whether it be the length of stay at immigration Processing Centers or the outcome of immigration proceedings, these radical groups have falsely targeted our company in an attempt to accomplish their publicly stated goal of abolishing ICE and promoting open borders,” the GEO Group spokesperson said.
The three detention centers in South Florida — the Krome Processing Center in Miami-Dade, the Broward Transitional Center in Pompano Beach and the Glades County Detention Center in Moore Haven — are operated by third-party contractors. In addition to GEO Group there is Akima Global Services and the Glades County Sheriff’s Office.
A December protest
The company’s Boca Raton headquarters has been the target of previous protests.
Six activists who planned and participated in a protest against private prisons at Geo Group in December were arrested and charged with misdemeanor trespassing. In February, charges of false imprisonment and conspiracy to commit false imprisonment, along with misdemeanor criminal mischief, were added for their protest on Dec. 3.
The false imprisonment charges were added because those December activists blocked the entrances to the company’s parking garage with concrete-filled tires and barrels, as well as the doorways, according to court documents. But police later discovered that a security guard was inside the building when the entrances and exits were blocked.
GEO Group on COVID-19
In regard to Friday’s protests and the activists’ use of body bags as a commentary on the COVID-19 pandemic, the GEO spokesperson said the group has taken “comprehensive steps” at all of its facilities to mitigate the risks of catching the novel coronavirus.
Among them: “Our ICE facilities provide access to regular hand washing with clean water and soap in all housing areas and throughout each facility; provide 24/7 access to healthcare; have approximately double the number of healthcare staff, compared to correctional facilities; and are equipped with Airborne Infection Isolation Rooms,” GEO’s spokesperson said.
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