Detention by Design, 6 part podcast series traces Florida's ties to modern immigration crisis

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*trailer for the series

Introducing WLRN’s new podcast: Detention By Design​

August 31, 2022

Haitian protesters express their anger during a four hour protest at the Krome Detention center about conditions at the center and unfair treatment of Haitian detainees in 1981.

As recently as 1955 there were virtually no immigrants held in detention in the U.S. Today the federal government holds tens of thousands of migrants a day, across 130 facilities spread across the country, with the ‘border crisis’ never far from the headlines. But the story of how we got here did not start at the Mexican border - it started on Florida’s shores, 50 years ago.

Starting Sept. 7, WLRN News’ podcast Detention By Design will take you through the arrival of Haitian and Cuban migrants by boat in the 1970s and 1980s and how those waves shaped the immigration and detention system that we have in this country. Through deep, personal histories and meticulously compiled archival materials, the limited series tells the little-known story of how crude experiments in small Florida jails served as proof of concept for this sprawling national detention network.

Detention By Design is a six-episode series that is equal parts domestic and international in scope. In it, we meet dictators of all stripes; people who risked lives trying to find freedom; politicians confronted with difficult realities; and attorneys and activists who fought for the Land of the Free to be worthy of its name

 

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[Eddie_1100]

Amerikkka Inc.! Bout to check it out

 

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[WTFisWallace?]

Gotta check this out. I only recently learned about how they were rounding up Haitian immigrants and sending them to detention centers out on Krome.

 

[WTFisWallace?]

Finished listening to this series.

Didn’t know about the protest & break out at the Krome Detention Center at all. Barely can find anything about it on Google.





Seems like detaining/imprisoning Haitians was the start or propellor of the private prison industry. Kinda reminds of how it seems like Haitians were the original “insurgents” of U.S. media military invasion propaganda.


Glad they pointed out the Monroe Doctrine angle. Personally I see the logic in establishing immigration policies and controlling flow. But the US is directly responsible for causing economic & political strife in the islands, South & Central America.

Plunder their resources, wealthy, and people…and when those same people want to partake in the wealth and (American) dreams stolen from them….they get denied and labeled as ‘illegals’? Foh

US is the GOAT at spinning the truth and narratives.

 

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Lawmakers demand answers after a Haitian woman dies at an ICE detention center​

• May 1, 2025

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A woman from Haiti died after spending over two months in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody, the agency announced on Tuesday.


Marie Ange Blaise, 44, was pronounced dead on Friday night at the Broward Transitional Center in Pompano Beach, Fla. ICE says her cause of death is under investigation.


Speaking on the House floor Wednesday, Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, D-Fla., suggested that Blaise had not been provided adequate medical care

"Marie had been complaining about chest pain for hours," said Cherfilus-McCormick, who is the only Haitian-American in Congress. "They gave her some pills and told her to go lie down. Unfortunately, Marie never woke up."


NPR has reached out to ICE for more information. In its Tuesday notice, the agency said that "at no time during detention" is a detainee "denied emergent care."


"All people in ICE custody receive medical, dental and mental health screening and 24-hour emergency care at each detention facility," it said.

Congress requires ICE to make public all reports about in-custody deaths within 90 days. In the meantime, Cherfilus-McCormick plans to visit the Pompano Beach facility and is calling for a "full, independent investigation" into Blaise's death.


"Her loved ones deserve answers," she said. "They deserve accountability — like so many immigrant families who have their loved ones missing and who are hurt."


Another South Florida Democrat, Rep. Frederica Wilson, said in a tweet that she was "heartbroken and furious" to learn of Blaise's death. She called on members of Congress to visit ICE facilities for themselves to increase oversight of the Trump administration's immigration policies.


"How many more stories do we have to hear of immigrants being mistreated at these black hole detention centers?" she wrote. "When are we going to get answers?"

Blaise was transferred between multiple facilities​

ICE says Blaise entered the U.S. without admission or parole "on an unknown date and place."


According to the agency, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) encountered her on Feb. 12 at the international airport in Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, attempting to board a flight to Charlotte, N.C.


"On the same date, CBP issued Blaise a Notice of Expedited Removal, charging inadmissibility as an immigrant without a valid immigrant visa," it said.


Two days later, CBP transferred her to ICE custody in San Juan, Puerto Rico. She was sent to Louisiana the following week, where she spent over a month detained at the Richwood Correctional Center. On April 5, she was transferred to the detention center in Pompano Beach, Fla. She died there nearly three weeks later.


Six other people have died in ICE custody since the start of the 2025 fiscal year, according to agency data, with half of those deaths occurring since January.