Migrants Suffer in US Detention Centers Amidst Abysmal Conditions and Endless Delays

Felipe Hernandez Espinosa endured 45 days at a notorious immigration holding facility in Florida, dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz,” where reports of worms in food, malfunctioning toilets, and overflowing sewage are rampant. Insects swarm the premises, creating an unbearable environment.

Now, the 34-year-old asylum-seeker finds himself at the Fort Bliss Army base in El Paso, Texas, where he has spent five months. This facility has seen two migrant deaths in January alone and mirrors the same troubling conditions, according to human rights advocates. Hernandez requested to return to Nicaragua but was informed he must first appear before a judge. After nearly seven months of detention, his hearing is set for February 26.

Extended detention periods have surged during the latter part of the Trump administration, largely due to a policy that restricts immigration judges from releasing detainees while their deportation cases languish in an overwhelmed court system. Many, like Hernandez, are now resigned to abandoning their hopes of remaining in the United States.

“I came to this country thinking they would help me, and I’ve been detained for six months without having committed a crime,” Hernandez expressed during a phone call from Fort Bliss. “It has been too long. I am desperate.”

The Supreme Court established in 2001 that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) cannot detain immigrants indefinitely, deeming six months a reasonable limit.

As ICE detention numbers surpassed 70,000 for the first time, data revealed that 7,252 individuals had been held for over six months by mid-January, including 79 who have been in custody for more than two years. This figure is more than double the 2,849 who faced similar circumstances in December 2024, the final month of Joe Biden's presidency.

The Trump administration is incentivizing voluntary departures by offering plane tickets and $2,600. However, detainees like Hernandez are told they cannot leave until they see a judge.

Legal experts caution that these situations are not isolated incidents.

During her monthly visit to an ICE detention center in McFarland, California, attorney Ana Alicia Huerta encountered three detainees who had signed forms agreeing to leave the U.S. but remained in limbo.

“All are telling me: ‘I don’t understand why I’m here. I’m ready to be deported,’” Huerta noted, reflecting on her experience as a senior attorney at the California Collaborative for Immigrant Justice. “That’s an experience that I’ve never had before.”

A Chinese detainee has been held for over a year without seeing an immigration judge despite expressing his willingness to be deported. Huerta remarked that such cases were once rare occurrences.

The Department of Homeland Security has not responded to inquiries regarding the increasing duration of detentions exceeding six months.

“The conditions are so poor and so bad that people say, ‘I’m going to give up’,” stated Sui Cheng, executive director at Americans for Immigrant Justice.

Waiting times vary by nationality; deportations to Mexico are routine, while countries like Cuba, Nicaragua, Colombia, and Venezuela have occasionally resisted accepting their nationals.

Among those stuck in prolonged detention are individuals who have secured protection under the United Nations Convention Against Torture. These migrants cannot be sent back to their home countries but may be relocated elsewhere.

Previously, such individuals were released and could obtain work permits. Now, however, Sarah Houston, managing attorney at Immigrant Defenders Law Center, reports that she has clients with U.N. torture convention protections who have been detained for over six months—one from El Salvador has been held for three years despite winning his case in October 2025.

“They’re just holding these people indefinitely,” Houston lamented, noting that attorneys request their release every 90 days only to face denials from ICE. “We’re seeing people who actually win their immigration cases just languishing in jail.”

Hernandez, lacking legal representation, claims he has signed documents requesting his return to Nicaragua or Mexico at least five times. An October 9 hearing was abruptly canceled without explanation. After months of uncertainty, he finally learned of his new hearing date in early February.

Hernandez suffers from allergies and requires a gluten-free diet that he asserts has not been provided since November. He was arrested during a lunch break from his job installing power generators in South Florida. His wife was also detained but was allowed to return to Nicaragua without a formal deportation order on August 28.

The couple crossed into the U.S. from Mexico in 2022 seeking asylum after Hernandez received death threats for participating in protests against co-presidents Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo. If returned to Nicaragua, they plan to flee to Panama or Spain due to safety concerns.

Yashael Almonte Mejia has faced eight months of detention since the government sought dismissal of his asylum case in May 2025, according to his aunt Judith Mejia Lanfranco.

Almonte has been transferred between facilities from Florida to Texas and New Mexico during his time in custody. In November, he married his pregnant American girlfriend via video call and became a father to a daughter he has yet to meet in person. He was unable to attend his sister's funeral in November.

“He has gone through depression. He has been very bad,” his aunt shared. “He is desperate and he doesn’t even know what’s going to happen.”

Almonte arrived in the U.S. in 2024 and informed authorities of his fears regarding returning to the Dominican Republic. He passed his initial asylum screening interview in January.

A Mexican man detained since October 2024 found relief through federal court after being held for a year despite winning protection under the U.N. torture convention in March 2025.

“Time was passing and I was desperate, afraid that they would send me to another country,” said the 38-year-old man who requested anonymity due to fear of re-detention.

“I didn’t know what was going to happen to me,” he recounted, highlighting the lack of communication from immigration officials.

This man had lived illegally in the U.S. since age ten until his deportation. After running a business in Mexico, he returned and crossed the border illegally seeking safety from drug cartels demanding extortion payments.

He was taking antidepressants when he found an attorney who filed a petition alleging illegal detention. He was released seven months later after a judge ordered it.

For Hernandez, desperation has driven him to request a return to the country he fled.

“I’ve experienced a lot of trauma. It’s very difficult,” Hernandez said from Fort Bliss. “I’m always thinking about when I’m going to get out.”