Dispatches from Krome Detention Center

As those of you following our story on South Miami handyman Warren Papove know, Mr. Papove is still sitting in Krome Detention Center awaiting deportation.  From what I'm told he's been there now for over 100 days.  We received a letter from Mr. Papove back in September describing the conditions over at Krome...

Greetings from Krome; a legal limbo land where rights aren't given by the constitution, but by ICE agents. After 68 days I haven't seen a judge or my deportation officer. Apparently I have the right to neither. You see in 1988  I signed a voluntary deportation order in California. It was explained to me that I couldn't return for 5 years. In Nov'93  I returned via Amtrak from Montreal to Mobile, Alabama where I continued working with my employer. Later in Florida he abandoned myself and another worker. He owed us both bonuses.      On the word of a snitch and a single ICE officer this deportation order was reinstated denying me any right to see a judge. The deportation officer assigned to me has left her job and did little prior to leaving. I've not spoken to her or her replacement. The officers  come on UNIT for about 10 minutes on Thursdays. 5-7 officers for 60-65 people. Mine doesn't show although the others claim he/she is downstairs and will be up shortly.        Allow me to clarify my most serious offense,Cocaine possession. Threre was no cocaine, there was a pipe with residue. I was sentenced to 24 HOURS OF PROBATION !!       After having access to me denied by a Canadian Consular official I visited  with MIAMI HERALD REPORTER ANDREA TORRES.She was physically removed part way through our visit. I was transferred the next day to Glades facility in Moore Haven. Transfers are not only due to overcrowding. They are also used as punishment for those who dare fight their case.      Transfers involve hours of waiting, shackled  at both the departure and arrival sites besides shackled traveling. All non-local calls are $2.85 connection fee and 50 cents / Minuit. Visiting is hindered , envelope procurement is interrupted and money earned ( $1.00 /day is possible ) is partially transferred and partially confiscated. Case defense suffers. The day after my transfer to Glades I was charged Federally with REENTRY and returned to Krome for a few hours before being sent to the Federal Bureau of Prisons in downtown Miami.      I saw a judge for bail purposes only. Only a quarter of a million dollars. One week later the charge was dismissed. I didn't get to see the judge. While  in Federal prison I was hungry. Lunch was often a sandwich and soup. If you hadn't somehow already bought a bowl you couldn't get the soup! No drink without purchase of a cup either. No water fountain. There was a sink, remember I was not convicted of anything, nor had I seen a judge regarding case merit.       Now I'm back at Krome where the guards are privately contracted (DOYON)  but ICE makes all relevant rules and decisions so there is a layer of separation.          Hundreds of people have passed through since I've been here have been deported before. I know two others charged with RE-ENTRY. One has twice served 4 year sentences, the other has a more lengthy record.          After  90 days they must review my case. They could renew the 90 day process in perpetuity. Unlawful confinement?          Most people I've talked to here have children and either wives, finances or girlfriends/ ex's. Most will be leaving voluntarily or by force. Your tax dollars hard at work here now will undoubtedly be working hard in the future.       Thanks for everyone who has supported me. Warren Papove, Krone Detention Center, Sept 12,2012

If that wasn't bad enough, the next letter we got last week certainly was...

Greetings  from Krome,      Well CO [Corrections Officer] Summers caught some homosexual activity in the shower last night and the one guy was shipped out hours later. A start. The other guy is the problem. He sings. A lot. In a fake feminine voice.       While I was in the bathroom with the regulars working out with a bag of water in a laundry bag he came up o the chest high wall and poked his head over. As I'm curling the bag he smiles at me demonically and says, "Look Killer's working out". Then he comes around. I tell him to get the ______ out of my space. He refuses. So I put down the bag and charge him. He bails out and runs to the center of a foreigner prayer circle. It's like a mix of Santeria and other religions. They're all talking in foreign languages at the same time  laying their hands on him, but in this exorcism the poltergeist is running the show. Then there's CO Foote. Severely overweight, bad hair and a bad attitude. A spinster in the making. In the cafeteria line she wants me to close a 3foot gap with the poltergeist, I refuse, she threatens "Sergeant" ( for discipline) but the other Canadian intervenes and prevents me from being boxed. Foote is left drooling. She smelled blood and was denied. I sense denial is a recurring theme in the nightmare that must be her life.      There's CO Garnett, the mail call guy, who's pretty civil and will go out of his way as much as he can to help people send or receive mail and use the library. There's also CO C. Hinson who disrespected "Chihuahua" and a dozen others so severely I thought he was about to get hurt. He was lucky. If he's smart he'd change career paths. He won't stay lucky forever.       There's Brito, the ICE agent who tries to intimidate people as if people who've endured this crap can be scared by his death stare. Yeah Brito, you're a tough guy. Everyone's impressed. The ICE guys who do shakedowns along with the DOYON private security are a comedy of intimidation techniques. Like drunken NY Jets fans, you know the ones I'm talking about with their Joe Klecko jerseys that are 5 sizes too small because it ain't the 80's anymore, puking in a trash can while their 10 year old son holds their beer for them. Substitute arms for beer bellies.       The poltergeist is singing again. I'm trying to write. My eyes are blurring. A surgical glove nearby stops him/her cold. Thank you CO Summers. I finally spoke to my deportation officer on Thurs Sept 20 to ask about my status. He said I had pending charges of re-entry they were going to prosecute. Those charges were dismissed August 22, a month ago. At any point does a confinement become unlawful when they don't have to follow their own rules? I was hoping you could bring this to the appropriate people's attention, particularly because they see no need for judges in certain cases. Thanks for your help. Warren Papove

YIKES!  Incredible that this poor man, who was nothing more than collateral damage in a political war at the City of South Miami, is still sitting in detention.  What purpose does it serve at this point not to deport this man back to Canada?