has previously reported,<\/a> many who end up in ICE custody get there not because of criminal records but small traffic infractions, amid the state\u2019s rush to crack down on illegal immigrants.<\/p>\nHis extended stay in detention also highlights a trend seen nationwide, with Immigration and Customs Enforcement detaining immigrants for longer than ever before even after many agree to leave voluntarily. In August over 61,000 people across the country were in detention, the highest number in history, ICE reported. Many have suffered far more than Jose Luis, experts say.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat number is so high not just because of the massively funded enforcement \u2026 but also because they\u2019re keeping people detained longer by cutting off avenues for release,\u201d said Elizabeth Kenney, associate director of the Vera institute for Justice, a national organization that advocates for the end of mass incarceration.<\/p>\n
Transfers to detention centers far from home, as happened to Jose Luis, are common as well, Kenney said. ICE has jurisdiction to keep detainees where it wants but does not disclose its reasons publicly.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey might be transferred from some place close to home where they might have community who could help them in detention or secure an attorney for them to some place \u2026 where the legal resources are so limited that it\u2019s nearly impossible to get an attorney,\u201d Kenney said.<\/p>\n
For a period from January 20 through July 28, 148,000 detained immigrants nationwide experienced at least one transfer, ICE data analyzed by the Vera institute shows. During this period Florida sent the largest number of its detainees out of state, with the most common destination being Texas.<\/p>\n
Jose Luis\u2019 trip through the detention system began on April 1, when an Osceola County Sheriff\u2019s Deputy on patrol ran his license plate and discovered \u201cno valid driver record\u201d associated with the tag before pulling him over in the Four Corners area near the theme parks. He rolled down the window of his grey Dodge van and presented the officer his Brazilian ID card. His 30-year-old son was in the passenger seat.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy family was so scared,\u201d Jose Luis said.<\/p>\n
He was arrested and taken to Osceola County Jail where he spent a few days before being transferred to Orange County Jail on an immigration hold. Jose Luis has no criminal history in the U.S.<\/p>\n
The family had been living in Davenport while Jose Luis and his eldest son worked as plumbers, a far more lucrative version of the jobs they had left behind in Brazil. But after Jose Luis\u2019 arrest and detention, they fled the state. Jose Luis said they \u201chad to leave everything that we worked so hard for behind in Florida.\u201d<\/p>\n
A few days later, Jose Luis was transported again to Krome North Service Processing Center in Miami. But he stayed just one week. During the period Jose Luis was at Krome, the facility had the largest overcapacity of any immigration detention center in the nation, and on at least one day exceeded its capacity by nearly 1,200 people, data from ICE shows.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe first few days it\u2019s like punishment because they put you in this room that is so cold it\u2019s like an icebox,\u201d Jose Luis said. \u201cIt was so crowded too like in rooms for 40 they would put 50 or more.\u201d<\/p>\n
Krome has long been plagued by allegations of inhumane conditions. In 2025, two immigrants held at the center died.<\/p>\n
The most unnerving moment for Jose Luis was being chained for his flight from Florida, he said. The 120 passengers were not told where they were going, but landed in Texas, where they waited to be processed for over an hour in the Texas sun without air conditioning.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve only ever seen that in the movies,\u201d Jose Luis said.<\/p>\n
The detainees had arrived at Karnes County Immigration Processing Center, a privately run detention facility about one hour outside of San Antonio. It was Jose Luis\u2019 home for the next 80 days.<\/p>\n
Jose Luis said the center had eight bunk beds per unit, with a private bathroom and TVs. Everyone took turns cleaning the room daily because the services were poor, though the rooms themselves were OK, he said.<\/p>\n
Still, food was scarce, he said, estimating the center provided roughly 1,000 calories per day per person. A typical breakfast was eggs and a couple pancakes. Lunch was often canned beans and rice or more eggs, with similar provisions for dinner.<\/p>\n
One small positive: \u201cI was a bit overweight when I went in and after coming out I was in shape,\u201d Jose Luis said. \u201cThere was a lot of people who complained about being hungry so sometimes everyone would share food with them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jose Luis found a lawyer to help him fight his deportation, but in the end, he succumbed to what he described as depression and frustration and chose voluntary departure. Such an agreement allows an undocumented immigrant to leave the country without an official deportation on record, which would make re-entry easier. This agreement is granted only to immigrants without a criminal record who have complied with every step in the process.<\/p>\n
An immigration judge ordered that Jose Luis would have to wait three years before being eligible to reenter, he said. He left the U.S. on a commercial flight July 7, and chose to give an interview to the Sentinel once it was decided his wife would leave too.<\/p>\n
Jose Luis\u2019 own attorney could not be reached.<\/p>\n
But Amanda Aguilar, an attorney in Texas with nonprofit American Gateways who has multiple clients at the Karnes County center, said her clients have described \u201cstarving\u201d and multiple months in detention, sometimes even if they sign away their right to fight to stay.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s really sad is the ICE officers are so aggressive once it comes to getting that [voluntary departure] signature but once they get that signature they\u2019re not aggressive in getting them on a plane, getting them removed, getting them health care, getting them enough food,\u201d Aguilar said.<\/p>\n
Some clients have been held nine months just at Karnes, she said.<\/p>\n
One of her clients, who has been detained at Karnes since July 24, told Aguilar the hunger she is experiencing at the facility reminds her of her native Cuba.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe said for many in Karnes especially those who haven\u2019t come from a food insecure country it\u2019s very very difficult,\u201d Aguilar said. \u201cShe said for her it feels like they\u2019re trying to break her like the Cuban government tries to break you by starving you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Karnes County center is operated by a private Boca Raton-based company, GEO Group, which runs over four dozen immigration detention centers nationwide. The center has racked up allegations of negligent medical care and crumbling infrastructure, according to sworn declarations by detainees filed in federal court and obtained by the Miami Herald.<\/a><\/p>\nOne detainee at Karnes said after he was arrested by ICE in Pompano Beach he had a fracture in his tibia and was taken to an offsite orthopedic clinic whose \u201cwalls were falling down\u201d, the declaration obtained by the Herald said. The doctor took the Colombian immigrant\u2019s crutches away and said the swelling and pain were \u201cmental\u201d, the Herald reported.<\/p>\n
In a statement to the Orlando Sentinel a Geo Group spokesperson said all their facilities are monitored by ICE and the Department of Homeland Security to ensure compliance with detention standards. Geo Group says it provides medical access on site at certain locations and at off-site locations like hospitals or specialists when needed. It also provides \u201cin-person and virtual legal and family visitation, general and legal library access, translation services, dietician-approved meals, religious and specialty diets, recreational amenities, the statement says.<\/p>\n
Jose Luis\u2019 wife has chosen to return to Brazil but the family is split for the first time, he said, with their children holding onto the dream of a better life in the U.S.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve never spent a Christmas without my family,\u201d Jose Luis said. \u201cI don\u2019t wish this experience on anyone.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jose Luis doesn\u2019t understand his children\u2019s decision to stay. His 26-year-old son had a degree in architecture in Brazil but now is waiting tables and his 30-year-old son is continuing in the plumbing business.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t want them to go through what I did,\u201d Jose Luis said. \u201cThey believe that in the U.S. they can have an easier life and make more money.\u201d<\/p>\n
Today Jose Luis is working to restart his own plumbing business in Brazil, and is living with friends.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m just waiting for my wife so we can rent an apartment here and start a new life again,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For 96 days he was held inside detention centers in Florida and Texas after his April arrest in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":10258,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[28,30,29,114,266,115,1976,109],"class_list":{"0":"post-10257","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-florida","8":"tag-florida","9":"tag-florida-headlines","10":"tag-florida-news","11":"tag-latest-headlines","12":"tag-local-news","13":"tag-news","14":"tag-osceola-county","15":"tag-social"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10257","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10257"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10257\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10258"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10257"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10257"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10257"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}