Tell Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to Shut Down the Baker County Detention Center Now.

Take action NOW: Contact key ICE officials to take action to Shut Down Baker Detention Center now!

For years, immigrants at the Baker County Detention Center in Macclenny, Florida, have suffered appalling conditions, abuses, and even faced death.

Most recently, a former medical practitioner at Baker came forward as a whistleblower, disclosing a pattern of systemic neglect: staff denying basic medical care, falsifying records to cover their tracks, and subjecting detained individuals to racial and sexual harassment.

The whistleblower also confirmed a separate complaint detailing the abuse that a young woman faced while at Baker. While facing a mental health crisis, this woman was stripped, strapped to a restraint chair, and taunted by guards.

People have reported: being beaten so badly they suffer lasting ear damage and spending months in solitary confinement with no explanation; being pepper sprayed while already being pinned under a guard’s knee; racial slurs and harassment; sexual voyeurism, such as women being watched when they use the restroom; a lack of medical care leading to seizures and a diabetic coma; a lack of clean clothes, sanitary napkins, and bedding leading to infections and sleeping in blood-stained sheets.

The situation at Baker is urgent. Since 2020, hundreds of complaints have been filed about the facility from a breadth of advocates and lawyers – the ACLU of FL alone has received almost 500.

After over a decade of complaints, ICE has failed to adequately intervene to stop abuses at Baker, which is run by Baker County Sheriff’s Office, and the horrific conditions at the facility have persisted. In fact, the situation is worsening with Baker County Sheriff's Office demonstrating its willingness to continue violating immigrants’ rights through various retaliatory measures. They are the subject of ongoing litigation and calls have been made for federal investigation.

Send an email to ICE officials to urge them to end their contract with the Baker County’s Sheriff’s Office and shut down this facility once and for all!

To whom it may concern:

I urge ICE to immediately end its contract with Baker County Sheriff’s Office in light of the ongoing suffering of immigrants detained at the Baker County Detention Center in Macclenny, Florida.

ICE has promised to terminate contracts at detention sites that don’t meet its health and safety standards–and it’s clear that Baker does not. The recent whistleblower coming forward confirming these conditions only reaffirms that Baker is ill equipped to care for human beings.

Abuses of power and mistreatment of human beings ranging from excessive use of force, extreme medical neglect, racialized harassment and retaliation, blocking access to legal counsel, and more have been reported at this facility for many years.

ICE has the power to permanently end its contract with the Baker County Sheriff’s Office, which has proven it cannot responsibly and humanely care for human beings but instead puts people in danger and violates laws. All people deserve justice and safety, including those under the responsibility of ICE and their contractors.

I urge you to take action and terminate the contract with the Baker County Sheriff’s Office, and release individuals to their communities to safely undergo their immigration cases without being detained in harmful conditions. People’s lives are at risk.

Sincerely,