MACCLENNY, Fla. — The American Civil Liberties Union of Florida is joining calls for the closure of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility at the Baker County Detention Center.
The Baker County Detention Center is one of four ICE facilities in the state of Florida. ICE began housing detainees there in 2009. The agency entered an agreement with the Baker County Sheriff's Office which allows them to manage the facility. It houses both inmates in the county jail and people being detained by ICE.
Amy Godshall is an immigration attorney for the ACLU of Florida. She said those detainees are not being held on criminal charges; rather, they are in civil detention while they wait for their immigration cases to move through the court systems.
"It's for people who are in deportation proceedings, but there's also a lot of people who are in deportation proceedings who are not detained in ICE detention. It's just ICE has discretion for who they do or do not detain," Godshall explained.
The Baker County Detention Center made headlines back in 2022 after 16 civil rights groups filed a federal complaint against the facility citing inhume conditions and abuse. Since then, the ACLU and the Baker County Sheriff's Office have been engaged in a federal lawsuit. The ACLU claims the agency denied detainees access to counsel. That lawsuit is still pending.
The ACLU filed at least four other complaints against the detention center in the last two years, including the latest one on Nov, 14th, 2024.
"I think all ICE detention centers are rife with abuse and there's not enough medical care at any of these facilities, but I think Baker goes above and beyond in in violating people's rights," Godshall said.
First Coast News reached out to ICE and the Dept. of Homeland Security for more information on the facility and how these allegations are being handled. We have not heard back.
In the meantime, First Coast News found the latest Inspector General report on the detention center. The report, released in Sept. 2024, details the findings of an unannounced visit back in January 2024. Inspectors found the facility complied with most of the federal standards; however, according to the report, the facility missed several payments to detainees in the voluntary work program, failed to provide ICE handbooks to detainees, and did not comply with use of force standards. The report states those issues have been fixed.
With the latest complaint and whistleblower report, the ACLU is joining calls for the ICE facility at the Baker County Detention Center to be shut down.
"We just don't need ICE detention to have border enforcement in the first place, and it's a huge waste of government resources. People are just abused while they're in the system," Godshall said.
The ACLU also started a petition urging ICE to end its contract with the Baker County Sheriff's Office.
First Coast News reached out to the Baker County Sheriff's Office for a comment, but we were told they do not comment on pending litigation.