The Toxic Truth - Organizing Against Migrant Child Detention, Militarism, and Environmental Racism in Homestead, FL

The Toxic Truth - Organizing Against Migrant Child Detention, Militarism, and Environmental Racism in Homestead, FL

• Locations: United States of America -> Florida • Topics: Detention - Generally

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The Toxic Truth:
Organizing Against Migrant Child Detention, Militarism,
and Environmental Racism in Homestead, Florida
Co-Authored by American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) and Earthjustice
AFSC Authors: Emma Shaw Crane (Columbia University) Guadalupe de la Cruz,
Lis-Marie Alvarado, and Mariana Martinez (AFSC).
AFSC Contributors: Ronna Bolante.
Earthjustice Authors: Dominique Burkhardt, Laura Arroyo, Ana Correa.
Earthjustice Contributors: Rashmi Joglekar, Lisa Evans, Erin Fitzgerald.
Special thanks to Jim Brinkman.
AFSC Youth Artists: Noemi de la Cruz, José Dehorta, Steven Fisher, Javier Gamino, Princesa Gamino,
Ana Morales, Yoana Morales, Ilse Moreno, Romero Ortiz, Renee Souvenir.
Design: Design Action Collective.

This publication is copyrighted under the Creative Commons. It may be freely shared for noncommercial purposes only. Credit must be given if the publication is quoted from, shared, or used.
Published October 2021.

Cover artwork features a photograph by Armando Carrada; migrant youth protesting environmental
violence at the Homestead detention camp in 2021.
Back cover features photograph by Lis-Marie Alvarado; mass rally demanding the closure of the
detention center in 2019.

Contents
FOREWORD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
HISTORY OF THE HOMESTEAD DETENTION CAMP . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
ONGOING EFFORTS TO OBTAIN INFORMATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
REPORT FINDINGS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
The Superfund Site . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Contaminants and Potential Exposure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Contaminated Soil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Contaminated Groundwater . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Harms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Land Use Restrictions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Other Environmental Harms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Chronic Noise Exposure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Research Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
ORGANIZING AGAINST INJUSTICE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
OUR DEMANDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
NOTHING ABOUT US WITHOUT US . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Seeds of Resistance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Painting Towards Freedom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
ABOUT THE AUTHORS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

£NI)
CHILD
DETENTION
Youth organizers with the American Friends Service Committee of Florida visit Washington, D.C.,
to demand an end to child detention, 2019. Photographer: Lis-Marie Alvarado.

FOREWORD

etween 2016 and 2019, thousands

While open, the Homestead detention

of migrant children were detained

camp was the largest detention facility

at the Homestead Temporary

for children in the United States and

Shelter for Unaccompanied Alien

was the only private, for-profit detention

Children in Homestead, Florida. Some

facility for children in the country. The

children detained in Homestead arrived

detention camp was directly adjacent

at the border without a parent or legally

to the Homestead Air Reserve Base, a

recognized guardian. Others were forcibly

military base, and to a contaminated

separated from their families by the

Superfund site.

Trump administration’s “zero tolerance”
policies.

The Toxic Truth

In 2018 and 2019, the American Friends
Service Committee of Florida (AFSC) led
a coalition to shut down the detention
camp in Homestead and end all child
detention. As part of our campaign,
we collaborated with researchers and
lawyers from Earthjustice to document
environmental conditions at the

Research revealed
that conditions at the
camp posed potentially
serious threats to the
health and safety of
children detained
there.

Homestead detention camp.
Our research revealed that conditions

exposed to noise from military jets taking

at the camp posed potentially serious

off and landing at the Homestead Air

threats to the health and safety

Reserve Base runway at levels associated

of children detained there. These

with developmental harm.

dangers included possible exposure
to toxic chemicals including arsenic,

We demanded that the agencies

lead, mercury, polycyclic aromatic

responsible—the U.S. Department of

hydrocarbons (PAHs), and trichloroethene

Health and Human Services (HHS),

from a military nearby Superfund site.

the U.S. Environmental Protection

Exposure to these toxicants is particularly

Agency (EPA), and the U.S. Air Force—

harmful to children and is linked to

immediately conduct environmental

developmental damage, cancer, damage

testing to determine whether the

to the kidneys, liver, heart, and immune

facility was safe for children. As of

system and anemia, among many other

the publication of this report, we have

serious and irreversible health effects.

received no evidence that they have done

Children detained at the camp were also

so.

Air Force Civil Engineer Center for the Environmental Protection Agency, Third Five-Year Review (FYR) Report for CERCLA
Sites: SS034/OU-20, SS035/OU-21, OT022/OU-26, OT024/OU-28, OT026/OU-29, SS040/OU-30, and SS042/OU-31, Former
Homestead Air Force Base (BRAC) Miami-Dade County, Homestead, Florida USEPA ID No. FL7570024037 (September 2016)
(OUs 20, 21, 26, 28, 29, 30, 31 are contaminated with arsenic; OUs 26, 28, 29 are contaminated with lead; OUs 26, 28, 30, 31
are contaminated with PAH; OU 26 is contaminated with trichloroethene and mercury).

Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), Lead – ToxFAQs (August 2020), available at https://www.
atsdr.cdc.gov/toxfaqs/tfacts13.pdf; ATSDR, Arsenic – ToxFAQs (August 2007), available at https://wwwn.cdc.gov/TSP/
substances/ToxSubstance.aspx?toxid=3; ATSDR, What Health Effects Are Associated With PAH Exposure?, https://
www.atsdr.cdc.gov/csem/polycyclic-aromatic-hydrocarbons/health_effects.html; Chiu, et al., Human Health Effects of
Trichloroethylene: Key Findings and Scientific Issues, 121(3) Environmental Health Perspective 303-311 (2013); ATSDR,
Mercury – ToxFAQs (April 1999), available at https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxfaqs/tfacts46.pdf.

The Toxic Truth

Our coalition organized protests,

of Health and Human Services (HHS),

marches, and petitions to demand the

and other federal agencies, outlining

closure of the detention camp and the

the known environmental hazards at

reunification of detained children with

Homestead, calling on them to keep

their waiting families and loved ones.

the facility closed, and requesting

We urged our elected representatives to

environmental testing.4

end all migrant detention and honor the
human right to mobility and refuge. In

This report documents dangerous

June of 2019, presidential candidates of

environmental conditions at the detention

the Democratic party joined us to protest

camp in Homestead and reflects on our

at the gates of the detention camp. Then

campaign to end child detention and for

Senator Kamala Harris called for the

environmental and migrant justice. It

camp to be shut down immediately. More

demonstrates that the detention camp

than a year of sustained organizing led

at Homestead is an unsafe place for

to the successful closure of the camp in

children and demands an immediate

October 2019.

investigation into toxic and noise
exposures. It is the result of a two-year

Yet in February of 2021, the Biden

collaboration between community

administration announced plans to

organizers, environmental justice lawyers,

reopen the detention camp, renamed

and researchers exploring every possible

the Biscayne Influx Care Facility. No

way to challenge migrant detention

environmental testing was conducted

and shut down the camp. It features

before planning began to reopen the

the artwork of youth activists engaged

facility. AFSC again protested against

in organizing against the camp and

child detention and advocated to keep the

demanding the freedom of all youth. We

detention camp in Homestead closed.

hope that it will provide an example of

These efforts included sending a letter

the power and possibility of collaborative

with Earthjustice to the Environmental

research and organizing.

Protection Agency (EPA), the Department

Monique O. Madan and Alex Daugherty, “Exclusive: Homestead detention center for unaccompanied migrant teens to
reopen under Biden,” Miami Herald, Feb. 23, 2021. Available at: https://www.miamiherald.com/article249449265.html.

Letter to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Administration for Children and Families, and the
Environmental Protection Agency titled “Demand for Moratorium on Plans to House Unaccompanied Minors at the
Homestead Detention Center / Biscayne Influx Care Facility and Immediate Need for Environmental Testing and Health
Risk Assessment.” Signed by Dominique Burkhardt (Earthjustice), Laura Arroyo (Earthjustice), Guadalupe de la Cruz
(AFSC), Lis-Marie Alvarado (AFSC), Mariana Martinez (AFSC) and Emma Shaw Crane (NYU). Sent March 24th, 2021.

The Toxic Truth

But while our efforts have been successful in preventing the camp from reopening,
there is much more work to do. Today we are now working to keep the detention camp
permanently closed—and to ensure that no one is detained in Homestead ever again. In
October 2021, we filed a lawsuit against the Air Force, Department of Homeland Security,
and Immigration and Customs Enforcement compelling a response to Freedom of
Information Act (FOIA) requests for records of environmental contamination and testing
at Homestead.
This facility must not be used for any purpose until comprehensive environmental
testing is complete. We must continue our collective struggle to end the detention and
incarceration of immigrant children—and work to build safer, more just futures for all
people.
Signed,
Guadalupe de la Cruz

Emma Shaw Crane

American Friends

Columbia University

Service Committee - Florida
Dominique Burkhardt
Lis-Marie Alvarado

Earthjustice - Florida Regional Office

American Friends
Service Committee - Florida

Laura Arroyo
Earthjustice - Florida Regional Office

Mariana Martinez
American Friends

Ana Correa

Service Committee - Florida

Earthjustice - Florida Regional Office

Dedicated to the hundreds of thousands of
children and youth lost in the detention
bureaucracies of the U.S.

The Toxic Truth

Princesa Gamino, “An Abrupt Time in a Young Life”

HISTORY OF THE
HOMESTEAD
DETENTION
CAMP

The Toxic Truth

Homestead Temporary Shelter for Unaccompanied Children, 2019. Photographer: Guadalupe de la Cruz.

he Homestead detention camp

the land that is now the detention camp

was once part of the Homestead

was transferred to the U.S. Department of

Air Force Base. In 1990, parts

Labor (DOL).6

of the Air Force Base were placed on
the Superfund National Priorities List.5

The Department of Labor used the

In 1992, Hurricane Andrew destroyed

land to open a Job Corps campus, a

much of the base. After the hurricane,

federal program that offers vocational

the Air Force base underwent a Base

training to youth. The Job Corp program

Realignment and Closure (BRAC) process

was managed by ResCare, a private

and nearly two-thirds of the former base

contractor. In 2015, a Job Corps student,

was transferred to Miami-Dade County

José Amaya Guardado, the son of

and other government agencies. In 1996,

refugees from El Salvador, was murdered

The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), commonly known as the
Superfund program, requires the federal government to clean up toxic contamination that is dangerous to public health or
the environment. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) assesses these environmental hazards and oversees
clean-up.

Department of Labor, “Request for Transfer of Excess Real and Related Personal Property,” Attachment #1, Item B: 52.
June 29th, 1994.

The Toxic Truth

on the Homestead campus. ResCare
was found negligent and the Job Corps
program in Homestead was closed.
Following the closure of the Job Corps
program, the Department of Labor
signed a Memorandum of Understanding
with the Department of Health and
Human Services to use the site for the
detention of migrant children. In 2016,
the Obama administration reopened
the former Job Corps campus as an
“emergency influx shelter” for hundreds
of migrant and refugee children. The
Trump administration briefly closed the
detention camp in 2017 but reopened it in
March of 2018.7 Children held in detention

Ana Morales, “Will We Ever Be Free?”

in Homestead doubled from 1,570 in

June of 2018 to 3,234 in March of 2019.

a private military contractor owned by DC

By April of 2019, there were 3,728 children

Capital Partners.9 They charged between

detained in Homestead.8

$750 and $775 dollars per day per child.10

The detention camp was governed

Children detained at the U.S. border

by the Department of Health and

without a parent or legal guardian are

Human Services’ Office of Refugee

considered “unaccompanied” by U.S.

Resettlement (ORR) but administered by

law. Unaccompanied children may be

Comprehensive Health Services, Inc., a

legally detained for up to 72 hours by

subsidiary of Caliburn International LLC,

the Department of Homeland Security

Patricia Mazzei, “What It’s Like To Tour a Children’s Detention Facility,” The New York Times. Available at: https://www.
nytimes.com/2018/06/22/us/detention-center-children.html. June 18, 2018.

Center for Constitutional Law, “Facility Report for Flores vs. Barr Class Council: Homestead.” May 31st, 2019: 64.

The American Friends Service Committee, 2019. “The corporate interests behind the Homestead migrant youth detention
center.” Available at: https://investigate.afsc.org/updates/homestead-detention-center.

Congressional Hearing, 116 Congress. “The Trump Administration’s Child Separation Policy: Substantiated Allegations of
Mistreatment,” July 12, 2019. Serial No. 116-46. Available at: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CHRG-116hhrg37315/
html/CHRG-116hhrg37315.htm. Accessed October 21, 2019.

The Toxic Truth

r---

Javier Gamino, “Penalty for Living”

at a Customs and Border Patrol facility

influx” shelters like the detention camp

and then are transferred into the “care

in Homestead. An “influx” or “overflow”

and custody” of ORR. ORR is housed

facility means youth are detained there

within the Administration for Children and

only when other, permanent youth

Families in the Department of Health and

detention facilities are at capacity. Influx

Human Services. When the number of

facilities are not subject to state or local

detained children exceeds the capacity

licensing or health and safety standards,

of permanent and licensed ORR shelters,

which means that care for children in

they may be placed in “emergency

Homestead was not regulated and the

The Toxic Truth

Homestead avoided
having to comply with
the federal Flores
Agreement—which
specifies that children
cannot be held in
detention facilities for
more than 20 days.

consistently the largest group of young
migrants entering the United States.13
Children from Guatemala are also
disproportionately Indigenous Maya, and
many speak only Indigenous languages.
Though children who do not speak fluent
Spanish are supposed to be placed in
smaller facilities, Indigenous children who
spoke only Mam, Q’eqchi, K’iche were

facility was not licensed to care for
children.11
The children detained in Homestead
were mainly from Central America.
Roughly 55% of all the children detained
in Homestead were from Guatemala
and the rest were from Honduras and El
Salvador.12 Children from Guatemala are

detained at Homestead.14 Social workers
and guards employed at the detention
camp, as in other facilities across the
country, were unable to communicate
with many Indigenous children, further
increasing their risk for mistreatment,
separation from family members,
and inadequate medical treatment.15
Across the United States, the children

Office of Refugee Resettlement, “Children Entering the United States Unaccompanied: Guide to Terms,” Available at:
https://www.acf.hhs.gov/orr/policy-guidance/children-entering-united-states-unaccompanied-guide-terms#Influx%20
Care%20Facility. March 21, 2016.

A lawsuit filed against the detention camp states that roughly 55 percent of children processed through the camp
were from Guatemala, about 27 percent were from Honduras, and 14 percent were from El Salvador. See Center for
Constitutional Law, “Facility Report for Flores vs. Barr Class Council: Homestead,” May 24th, 2019: 63.

U.S. Customs and Border Patrol, “Stats and Summaries: FY 2000 to FY 2019,” Available at: https://www.cbp.gov/
newsroom/media-resources/stats. Though the U.S. Border Patrol does not make the ethnicity of detained children
publicly available, 95% of migrant children deported from Mexico and the United States to Guatemala are Indigenous
Maya (Guatemalan Secretary of Social Welfare, cited in Lauren Heidbrink, “The Coercive Power of Debt: Migration and
Deportation of Guatemalan Indigenous Youth,” The Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Anthropology 24(1), March
2019: 265.

Center for Constitutional Law, “Facility Report for Flores vs. Barr Class Council: Homestead.” May 31, 2019: 41. See also
“Facility Report for Flores vs. Barr Class Council, Exhibit 7: Declaration of Dr. Ryan Matlow,” May 28, 2019: 86.

Americans for Immigrant Justice, “Do My Rights Matter? The Mistreatment of Unaccompanied Children in CBP
Custody,” Available at: https://aijustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Do-My-Rights-Matter-The-Mistreatment-ofUnaccompanied-Children-in-CBP-Custody.pdf. October 2020: 16-25.

The Toxic Truth

and youth who die in detention are

In addition to the environmental violence

disproportionately Indigenous Maya.16

that this report documents, children
detained at the camp were exposed to

Detained children ranged from ages 13 to

crowding, rampant sexual abuse, and

17 and spent an average of 67 days at the

the trauma of prolonged separation from

camp.17 Because of its classification as

their families and communities.20 Children

an “emergency temporary influx shelter”

who turned 18 inside the facility were

the detention center in Homestead

transported to adult detention facilities

avoided having to comply with the federal

including nearby Krome. An unknown

Flores Agreement—which specifies that

number of children were deported before

children cannot be held in detention

they could be placed with their waiting

facilities for more than 20 days. A boy

families.

from Guatemala was detained at the
camp the longest, 122 days; a girl from

One of the most challenging aspects

Guatemala, 119 days. The camp was

of our research was understanding

not regulated by the state of Florida,

who was responsible for environmental

nor was it certified or inspected by

conditions at the detention camp. The

local authorities. Elected and appointed

detention camp was built on former

officials were repeatedly denied entrance

military land owned by the Department

to the camp.19

of Labor, was managed by the Office

Jakelín Amei Rosmery Caal Maquin, a seven-year old Maya Q’eqchi’ girl, died of sepsis related to a bacterial infection after
she was refused timely medical attention in a Customs and Border Control detention facility at the border. Felipe Gómez
Alonso, an eight-year old Maya Chuj boy, died of the flu on Christmas Eve of 2018 in Customs and Border Patrol custody.
Carlos Hernández, a sixteen-year old Maya Achi boy, died of influenza in a Border Patrol facility in 2019. Juan de León
Gutiérrez, a sixteen-year old Maya Ch’orti’ boy, died in Health and Human Services custody after symptoms related to an
untreated puffy tumor in his frontal lobe were not adequately treated. For example, see The Mayan League, “Indigenous
Children Are Dying At the U.S. Mexico Border.” May 16, 2019. Available at: https://issuu.com/mayanleague.org/docs/
indigenous_children_dying_at_the_bo.

John Burnett, “Inside the Largest and Most Controversial Shelter for Migrant Children in the U.S.,” National Public Radio.
February 13, 2019. Available at: https://www.npr.org/2019/02/13/694138106/inside-the-largest-and-most-controversialshelter-for-migrant-children-in-the-u-.

Miriam Jordan, “Migrant Children are Spending ‘Months’ Crammed in a Temporary Migrant Shelter,” The New York Times,
June 26, 2019. Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/26/us/homestead-migrant-children-shelter.html.

Jerry Ianelli, “Lawmakers Denied Entry to Miami Compound Holding 1,000 Child Migrants,” The New Times, June 19, 2018.
Available at: https://www.miaminewtimes.com/news/video-miami-child-migrant-compound-denies-nelson-wassermanschultz-entry-10454112.

Amnesty International, “No Home for Children: End the Contract To Operate the Homestead ‘Temporary Emergency’
Facility,” July 17, 2019. Available at: https://www.amnestyusa.org/reports/no-home-for-children-us-governmentdetention-of-children-at-homestead-facility-cruel-and-unlawful/.

The Toxic Truth

of Refugee Resettlement, a division
of the Administration for Children and
Families, which is part of the Department
of Health and Human Services, and
was administered by a private military
contractor, Caliburn International.
Remediation at the military Superfund
sites that surround the detention camp
is monitored by the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) but carried
out by the United States Air Force. The
convoluted jurisdiction of the detention
camp made it difficult to hold any single
organization or entity responsible.
This report is based on publicly available
documents from the Environmental
Protection Agency, the U.S. Air Force, the
U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services, the U.S. Department of Labor,

Ilse Moreno, “Schools Not Prisons”

and Miami-Dade County. With support
from Earthjustice, AFSC filed a series

Department of Health and Human

of Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)

Services (HHS), the government agency

requests for further information. To date,

responsible for the care of detained

the FOIA request to the Air Force—the

children. Following the letter we sent to

agency we believe has key environmental

HHS and other federal officials in March

records sought—has not been fulfilled.

2021 outlining the known environmental

We also have not received a response

hazards at Homestead, HHS officials

from the Department of Homeland

cannot claim to be unaware of the

Security (DHS) or Immigration and

health and safety risks. Yet the Biden

Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Administration has not publicly rescinded
its plans to reopen Homestead and as far

The burden of proof with respect

as we know, environmental testing has

to health and safety of children at

not taken place at the site.

the detention camp belongs to the

The Toxic Truth

Youth protesting the Biden administration’s announcement that the Homestead camp would be
reopened, 2021. Photographer: Armando Carrada.

ONGOING
EFFORTS
TO OBTAIN
INFORMATION

FSC partnered with Earthjustice

In 2019, we submitted FOIA requests

to file a series of Freedom of

to the U.S. Air Force, the Department of

Information Act (FOIA) requests

Homeland Security, the Department of

seeking additional information about

Labor, and the Department of Health and

environmental conditions at the detention

Human Services. In 2020, we submitted

camp.

a FOIA request to the Environmental

The Toxic Truth

Protection Agency (EPA). Our request to

This lack of transparency is deeply

the Department of Homeland Security

concerning and in violation of the FOIA

was transferred to Immigration and

statute’s requirement that agencies

Customs Enforcement (ICE). The EPA,

respond within 20 business days to a

Department of Labor, and Department of

records request. The failure to respond

Health and Human Services responded

within legally mandated time limits places

to our FOIA requests; however, they did

a burden on communities and advocates,

not have in their possession the types

who are left without access to crucial

of records pertaining to environmental

information.

conditions or testing that we requested.
Because key federal agencies have been
According to the EPA, the Air Force—and

evading their duty to respond to our FOIA

not the EPA—would have more extensive

requests, in October 2021, we filed suit

records of environmental contamination

against the Air Force, the Department of

and testing at or near the detention camp,

Homeland Security, and ICE seeking a

because the Air Force has jurisdiction

court order compelling their responses to

over its own environmental matters. Yet,

our requests.

after two years, the FOIA request to the
Air Force remains unanswered, despite
numerous follow-ups.21 To date, we
have not received a response from the
Air Force, the Department of Homeland
Security, or ICE. Moreover, we have not
seen any evidence of environmental
testing at the site of the detention camp.22

The Toxic Truth

REPORT FINDINGS
The Superfund Site

ased on publicly available

to what is the Homestead Air Force

information, the Homestead

Base National Priority Superfund site.

detention camp is directly adjacent

The camp is within 2/3 of a mile of 16

Cutout Parcel 11-E
Homestead Air Reserve Base
Homestead Air Reserve Base Runway
Homestead Temporary Sheller for Unaccompanied ~grant Children
Parcel 11 Boundary

Superfund OUs (shaded red) near the Homestead Temporary Shelter for Unaccompanied Minors
(shaded yellow).
Map by Jim Brinkman, expert in the field of environmental remediation. The map was created by
layering information from Environmental Protection Agency and Miami-Dade County reports with a
map of the detention camp and military base.‡
‡ Environmental Protection Agency, “HSWA [Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments] Corrective Action Permit Renewal
Application,” Homestead Air Reserve Base, Florida. February 2016: 25 and Clerk of the Court, Miami-Dade County. September
30th, 2004. “Indenture between the United States of America and Miami-Dade County Regarding Parcel D-4,” CFN
2005R0212582, Recorded 03/03/2005, Harvey Ruvin, Clerk of the Court, Miami-Dade County, Florida. Page 5.

The Toxic Truth

sources of contamination, known as

The proximity of these known

Operable Units, or “OUs.”23 These OUs

contaminated sites to the Homestead

became contaminated after military use

detention camp poses a threat to the

for the storage of hazardous materials,

children who lived there while indefinitely

including munitions and industrial waste,

detained. Testing and analysis of the

and for aircraft maintenance, testing, and

groundwater, soil, surface water, and

disposal.

air quality at the Homestead detention
center site is critically important to

The Environmental Protection Agency

determine if it is a safe place for children

(EPA) reported in 2016 that these OUs

to live.

are “located in an unpopulated area,
with no residences located on the site
or nearby.”24 But these sites are in fact
directly adjacent to the detention camp,
where thousands of migrant children

Contaminants and
Potential Exposure

lived, studied, played, and received

The cluster of OUs closest to the

medical care. As of 2021, this Superfund

detention camp are contaminated

site is still contaminated and is “not yet

with arsenic, lead, mercury, polycyclic

ready” for reuse and redevelopment.

aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and

As far as we know, no testing has taken

trichloroethene.26 These contaminants

place at the site of the detention camp.

can cause cancer; damage to the
kidneys, liver, and immune system;

The American Friends Service Committee, Health At Risk Potential Toxic and Noise Exposure Endangering Children at the
Homestead Temporary Shelter for Unaccompanied Migrant Children (2019).. Appendix A maps and describes the 16 OUs
closest to the Homestead Detention center (data compiled from U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public
Health Assessment for Homestead Air Force Base, Homestead AFB, Dade County, Florida, Cerclis No. FL7570024037 (Sept.
30, 1998) and AGEISS, Inc., HSWA Corrective Action Permit Renewal Application, Homestead Air Reserve Base, Florida
EPA (February 2016).

Environmental Protection Agency, “Homestead Air Force Base Cleanup Progress,” Available at: https://cumulis.epa.gov/
supercpad/SiteProfiles/index.cfm?fuseaction=second.schedule&id=0404746.

At Homestead Detention Center, children can spend weeks, even months in custody, which can cause lasting
trauma and incalculable costs to children, families, and our communities. Photo in the public domain.

anemia; developmental harm, especially

if accidentally consumed, breathed in,

in children; and other serious health

or comes into contact with the skin.

problems.

Children could come into contact with

contaminated soil or groundwater via

Contaminated Soil

dust, flooding, playing outdoors, or storm
surge from tropical storms. Chemicals
unearthed in remedial activities like soil

Soil sample data from the OUs closest

removal could also evaporate into the air,

to the detention camp show arsenic and

creating, in high enough concentrations,

PAHs in the shallow soils surrounding

vapor intrusion into the camp.

the detention camp. This type and
concentration of soil contamination can

Some OUs have shown an increase in

produce particulate matter that is harmful

contamination. OU 26, for example, was

The Toxic Truth

used for aircraft maintenance, and is
contaminated with PD-680, a solvent
that contains ethylbenzene. At OU
26, southeast of the detention camp,
an increase of tetrachloroethylene
contamination was detected in
2013.28 The most recent report from
the EPA calls for additional remedial
action and states that only industrial
use is appropriate at the OUs.29

Contaminated
Groundwater
There is also contamination present
in the groundwater surrounding the
detention camp. The two closest OUs,
20 and 21, are directly southeast of
the camp. OU 21 was once a building

Romero Ortiz, “Human”

used to store flammable chemicals,
acids, and other hazardous waste.
Arsenic contamination at OU 21 has
increased over time—suggesting that
legacy contamination is not being
properly contained. The monitoring
wells that registered this increase
are only 130 and 140 feet from the
detention center.30

Air Force Civil Engineer Center/Environmental Protection Agency 2016: (xvi).

Air Force Civil Engineer Center/Environmental Protection Agency 2016: (xiv).

Air Force Civil Engineer Center for the Environmental Protection Agency Third FYR at xiv and 31 (explaining increase in
arsenic contamination at OU 21) and Figure 5-1 (showing location of monitoring wells at OU 21, with MW-16 and MW-A
being approximately 130 and 140 feet from the detention center).

The Toxic Truth

Harms
The contaminants present in soil and groundwater near the Homestead camp
are dangerous to the health and development of children:

Arsenic

Arsenic is a toxic heavy metal and known human carcinogen.31 Longterm arsenic exposure has been linked to an increased risk of skin cancer
and cancer in the liver, bladder, and lungs, and neurodevelopmental harm.

Low levels of arsenic exposure can cause sore throat, irritated lungs, nausea, vomiting, decreased
production of red and white blood cells, abnormal heart rhythm, and damage to blood vessels.32
-

Lead is a toxic heavy metal that is a neurotoxin and probable human

Lead
- -

carcinogen.33 There is no known safe level of lead in the human body. Even

- - -..;F

at low levels of exposure, lead can cause damage to the brain, kidneys, and

reproductive organs. The developing bodies of children are particularly vulnerable to lead
poisoning,34 and exposure to low levels of lead during early life can result in irreversible neurological
harm, impaired cognitive function, and neurodevelopmental disorders like ADHD.35
-

Mercury
- - --

- = -------

Mercury is a toxic heavy metal that primarily affects the
nervous system; at high levels of exposure, mercury can
damage the brain and kidneys and “irritability, shyness, tremors,

The International Agency for Research on Cancer of the World Health Organization designates arsenic as carcinogenic to humans. See
https://monographs.iarc.who.int/list-of-classifications.

Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), Arsenic – ToxFAQs (August 2007), available at https://wwwn.cdc.gov/TSP/
substances/ToxSubstance.aspx?toxid=3. Accessed April 13, 2021.

The International Agency for Research on Cancer of the World Health Organization designates lead as probably carcinogenic to humans.
See https://monographs.iarc.who.int/list-of-classifications.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Childhood Lead Poisoning (July 2021), available at https://www.cdc.gov/nceh/tracking/
topics/ChildhoodLeadPoisoning.htm.

Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), Lead – ToxFAQs (August 2020), available at https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/
toxfaqs/tfacts13.pdf; see also Braun, et al., “Exposures to Environmental Toxicants and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder in U.S.
Children,” Environmental Health Perspectives 114(12): 1904-1909 (2006).

The Toxic Truth

changes in vision or hearing, and memory problems”36 may result from damage to the brain. Young
children are more sensitive to mercury exposure than adults, and exposure during early life is
linked to irreversible neurodevelopmental harm, including irreversible neurodevelopmental harm,
“incoordination, blindness, seizures, and inability to speak.”37

Polycyclic
aromatic
Hydrocarbons

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, or PAHs,
are a toxic class of chemicals found in fossil
fuels and generated during the combustion of
coal, gas, wood, tobacco, and other materials.
Several PAHs are carcinogenic to humans.
Long-term exposure has been linked to skin,

lung, bladder, and gastrointestinal cancers and “heritable genetic damage” in humans, meaning that
this genetic damage be passed down to future generations.38

Trichloroethylene

Trichloroethylene (TCE) is a volatile and
toxic solvent used to remove grease from
metal parts, and is a known human

carcinogen39. Short-term exposure to TCE can lead to searing chemical burns, headaches, and
dizziness. At very high levels of exposure, TCE can lead to coma and even death. Long-term
exposure has been linked to an increased risk of liver, kidney, and blood cancers as well as
autoimmune disease and reproductive harm. Exposure to TCE during pregnancy can harm the
developing fetus and lead to neurodevelopmental harm, low birth weight, and congenital heart
defects.40

Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), Mercury-ToxFAC (April 1999), available at https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/
toxfaqs/tfacts46.pdf.

Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR,) What Health Effects Are Associated with PAH Exposure?, Available at:
https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/csem/polycyclic-aromatic-hydrocarbons/health_effects.html; Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease
Registry (ATSDR,) Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons: Key Concepts, available at https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/csem/polycyclic-aromatichydrocarbons/health_effects.html#key_points.

The International Agency for Research on Cancer of the World Health Organization designates trichloroethylene as probably carcinogenic
to humans. See https://monographs.iarc.who.int/list-of-classifications.

Chiu, et al., “Human Health Effects of Trichloroethylene: Key Findings and Scientific Issues,” Environmental Health Perspectives 121(3):
303-311 (2013); Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), Trichloroethylene-ToxFAC (June 2019), available at https://
www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxfaqs/tfacts19.pdf.

The Toxic Truth

An image taken by drone of the detention camp and military base. The four central buildings are dormitories
used by the detention camp. The base tarmac and runway are visible beyond the camp. In the upper right corner
are the new SOCSOUTH headquarters. Homestead, Florida. April 2021. Image courtesy of Christine Kane.

Land Use Restrictions
The Environmental Protection Agency

EPA and other government agencies

(EPA) says that these sites are not safe

establish use restrictions.

for people to live. The EPA Soil Cleanup
Target Levels (SCTLs) for these OUs are

Most of the property surrounding the

industrial, not residential.41 Residential

detention camp was transferred from

screening levels are significantly more

the Air Force to Miami-Dade County

protective than industrial screening levels,

in 2005 with an environmental use

which means remediation to industrial

restrictive covenant that prohibits the

levels does not provide protection for

use of the property for “permanent

residential use. In order to prevent these

residential purposes, hospitals for

sites from being used for residence, the

human care, public or private schools

The Toxic Truth

See, for example, Air Force Civil Engineer Center for the Environmental Protection Agency, Third Fifth Year Review (2016) at
xiv, xvi.

for persons under 18 years of age, or
day care centers for children.”42 These
restrictions apply to property that is
directly north and south of the detention
camp.
In 2014, the U.S. military Special
Operations Command South
(SOCSOUTH) completed a new
headquarters constructed roughly 1,000

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feet southwest of the detention camp.
These headquarters are subject to strict
environmental use restrictions.

José Dehorta, “Hell in Disguise”

The federal government prohibits the use of the new facility or the land
surrounding it for “permanent residential structures, hospitals, public
or private schools, or day care centers” in order to “avoid accidental
exposure to arsenic contamination in soils and groundwater onsite.” 43
Yet this building is farther away from the contaminated OUs than the
detention camp.

For example, Clerk of the Court, Miami-Dade County. September 30th, 2004. “Indenture between the United States of
America and Miami-Dade County Regarding Parcel D-4,” CFN 2005R0212582, Recorded 03/03/2005, Harvey Ruvin, Clerk
of the Court, Miami-Dade County, Florida. Page 5. Parcel D-4 is 211.02 acres, directly north of what is now the detention
camp (beginning below 280th St. and 127th Ave).

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. June 2011. “Final Environmental Assessment, Construction and Operation of U.S. Special
Operations Command South Headquarters Adjacent to Homestead Air Reserve Base”, p. ES-8. Available at: https://apps.
dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a611154.pdf.

The Toxic Truth

An image taken by drone of the detention camp. The tarmac and runway of the Homestead Air Reserve Base
are visible beyond the detention camp dormitories. Homestead, Florida. April 2021. Image courtesy of Christine
Kane.

Other Environmental Harms
A 2018 Environmental Assessment,

warned that a 1992 study found elevated

accessed via FOIA request, documented

levels of radon present in some buildings.

toxins including asbestos, lead-based

The assessment also reports that radon

paint, and mold in the decaying buildings

levels in some buildings “have not been

of the former Job Corps campus,

mitigated or retested since 1992.”45 The

which were repurposed into parts of the

EPA reports that radon causes lung

detention camp.44 The same assessment

cancer and children are “considerably

Department of Labor. “Environmental Assessment: Homestead Job Corps Center Proposed Disposal and Reuse,
Homestead, Florida,” November 2018. Obtained via FOIA request from the Department of Labor.

Department of Labor. “Environmental Assessment: Homestead Job Corps Center Proposed Disposal and Reuse,
Homestead, Florida,” Obtained via FOIA request from the Department of Labor. November 2018: 5-21.

The Toxic Truth

more sensitive to the carcinogenic

coating, stripping chemicals, waste oils,

effects” of radon than adults.46

waste paint-related materials, and other
universal wastes.”47

Finally, the normal operation of the
Homestead Air Reserve Base generates

As of October of 2021, we have not

“pesticides, herbicides, POL (petroleum,

seen any evidence of environmental

oil, and lubricants), flammable solvents,

testing to determine whether the

contaminated fuels and lubricants, paint/

detention camp site is safe for children.

Chronic Noise Exposure
The detention camp is not only toxic,

and Urban Development (HUD), human

it is also loud. The camp is adjacent to

residence is “normally unacceptable” in

the Homestead Air Reserve base, which

areas exposed to between 65 and 75

routinely flies F-16C fighter jets. Children

decibels.48 A 2017 Miami-Dade County

detained at the camp were exposed to

memorandum placed the site of the

chronic noise at levels associated with

detention camp partially in a 65-decibel

cognitive injury and developmental harm.

zone, relying on a fourteen-year-old,
outdated study.49 An updated, 2017

According to the U.S. Air Force, the

study places the detention camp almost

Federal Aviation Administration (FAA),

completely in the 65 to 69 decibel zone,

and the U.S. Department of Housing

due to expanded aircraft use at the

United States Environmental Protection Agency, Health Risks of Radon, available at https://www.epa.gov/radon/healthrisk-radon#iowa. See also Branco et al, “Children’s Exposure to Radon in Nursery and Primary Schools,” International
Journal of Environmental and Public Health, April 2016: 13(4): 386. Available at https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/
PMC4847048/.

Headquarters Air Force Reserve Command. February 2007. “Environmental Assessment for 2005 Base Realignment and
Closure Actions at Homestead Air Reserve Base, Florida,” 3-57.

Headquarters Air Force Reserve Command, Air Installation Compatible Use Zone (AICUZ) Study for the Homestead Air
Reserve Base, Florida (October 2007) at 3-1, available at https://www.homestead.afrc.af.mil/Portals/134/Documents/
Homestead%20ARB%202020%20AICUZ%20Public%20Brochure%20Booklet.pdf.

Miami-Dade County 2017, 20. For the 2007 AICUZ study, see: Headquarters Air Force Reserve Command, Air Installation
Compatible Use Zone (AICUZ) Study for the Homestead Air Reserve Base, Florida (October 2007) at 3-1, available at
https://www.homestead.afrc.af.mil/Portals/134/Documents/Homestead%20ARB%202020%20AICUZ%20Public%20
Brochure%20Booklet.pdf.

The Toxic Truth

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Sound exposures at Homestead Temporary Shelter for Unaccompanied Minors. The pink shading
indicates decibel level. The camp is mostly within the 65 to 69 decibel range, with a small part of
property in the 70-74 decibel range. Map created by Emma Shaw Crane, using publicly available ESRI
ArcGIS data.50

Homestead Air Reserve Base.51

particularly related to tasks involving
central processing and language, such

The World Health Organization argues

as reading comprehension, memory, and

that chronic environmental noise

attention.52 Exposure to chronic noise

exposure is linked to impaired cognition

during childhood can potentially “impair

and neurodevelopment in children,

development and have a lifelong effect

ESRI ArcGIS. 2017. “Noise Study Air Installation Compatible Use Zone (AICUZ) Informational (Public Access): 2014 to 2017
Noise Study Comparison, Homestead Air Reserve Base.” Available at: https://arcg.is/1O05yv.

World Health Organization, Burden of disease from environmental noise (2011) at 45-48, available at https://www.euro.
who.int/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/136466/e94888.pdf.

The Toxic Truth

RESIDENTIAL AREA

DETENTION
CAMP

70·74DBA
HOMESTEAD AIR

RESERVE BAS

65-69 OBA

A
Noise exposure at the Homestead detention camp. Designer: Heather Sourwine 2021.

on educational attainment.”53 Studies

hospitals, barracks, apartment buildings

suggest that an estimated 30% of

and religious facilities or other buildings

children routinely exposed to noise at 65

of public assembly” in zones of 65 to

dB experience cognitive impairment.54

75 decibels.55 Certain residential uses
are also prohibited, including “residential

Miami-Dade County prohibits “schools,

uses in excess of 1 dwelling unit per 5

World Health Organization, Burden of disease from environmental noise (2011) at 45-48, available at https://www.euro.
who.int/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/136466/e94888.pdf.

The percentage of children who experience cognitive impairment as a result of chronic noise exposure increases from
10% at 55 decibels to 30% at 65 decibels and 55% at 75 decibels. World Health Organization, Burden of disease from
environmental noise (2011) at 45-48, available at https://www.euro.who.int/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/136466/e94888.
pdf.

Miami-Dade County. January 24th, 2017. “Memorandum: Ordinance pertaining to zoning and real property transactions in
the vicinity of Homestead Air Reserve Base (HARB),” Section 33-295, 18.

The Toxic Truth

acres.”56 All new buildings within such
zones are required to incorporate “at least
a 25-decibel outdoor-to-indoor Noise
Level Reduction into the design and
construction of the structure.”57 There
are no records that anyone carried out a
Noise Risk Assessment at the detention
camp or took any such measures to
protect the children detained at the camp.

Research Conclusions
According to parameters established by
the EPA, the U.S. Air Force, and Miami-

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Dade County, the property surrounding
the Homestead Temporary Shelter
for Unaccompanied Alien Children is
unsuitable for residential use, schools,
childcare, or hospitals. The detention
camp is directly adjacent to active and
unremediated Superfund Operable Units
(OUs) that remain contaminated at levels
exceeding what is allowed for residential
use. Given the lack of data available

Leonardo, a formerly detained youth,
protesting chronic noise exposure and
the potential reopening of the Homestead
detention camp. In early 2021, the AFSC
organized to prevent the Biden administration
from reopening the camp and demanded
environmental testing at the detention camp
site. Credit: Armando Carrada

about conditions at the detention camp
itself and the decades-long presence

Noise levels at the detention camp

of harmful contaminants, we are

are estimated to be in the 65-69 dBA

concerned that hazardous materials at

(decibel) range, which is “normally

unsafe concentrations are present in the

unacceptable” for human residence.

detention camp area.

An estimated thirty percent of children

Miami-Dade County. January 24th, 2017. “Memorandum: Ordinance pertaining to zoning and real property transactions in
the vicinity of Homestead Air Reserve Base (HARB),” Section 33-295, Use Restrictions, (e), 18.

Miami-Dade County. January 24th, 2017. “Memorandum: Ordinance pertaining to zoning and real property transactions in
the vicinity of Homestead Air Reserve Base (HARB),” Section 33-295, (e), 18.

The Toxic Truth

A local farmworker from partner organization the Farmworker Association of Florida joins an action against the
Homestead detention camp. Photographer: Adam Barkan.

exposed to 65-69 decibel noise

children. Following the letter we sent to

experience cognitive impairment.58 We

HHS and other federal officials in March

do not know if the buildings used to

2021 outlining the known environmental

house detained children were adequately

hazards at Homestead, HHS officials

soundproofed, as required by Miami-

cannot claim to be unaware of the

Dade County. Moreover, child detainees

health and safety risks. Yet the Biden

were spending large parts of their days in

Administration has not publicly rescinded

tents, where noise exposure is potentially

its plans to reopen Homestead and

greater.

meanwhile, we can find no evidence that
environmental testing has taken place at

The burden of proof with respect

the site.

to health and safety of children at
the detention camp belongs to the
Department of Health and Human
Services (HHS), the government agency
responsible for the care of detained

World Health Organization, Burden of disease from environmental noise (2011) at 45-48, available at https://www.euro.
who.int/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/136466/e94888.pdf.

The Toxic Truth

Interfaith protest demanding the closure of the Homestead detention camp, 2018.
Photographer: Adam Barkan.

ORGANIZING
AGAINST
INJUSTICE

n recent years, AFSC and Earthjustice

hazards surrounding the Homestead

have been organizing against the

detention camp, the city of Homestead is

harmful forces of militarism and

also a heavily policed community. Local

environmental racism in Homestead and

police will set up roadblocks at busy

in the U.S. immigration system nationally.

intersections and check drivers’ licenses,
which undocumented people cannot

In addition to the known environmental

The Toxic Truth

obtain in Florida. Between 2016 and

Guadalupe de la Cruz leads protestors at an interfaith vigil and protesting demanding the closure of the
Homestead detention camp, 2018. Photographer: Adam Barkan.

2018, the number of charges related to

required local law enforcement to do the

drivers’ licenses nearly tripled.59 The vast

work of federal immigration agents.

majority of traffic-related charges are
related to driving without a license. These

Migrant detention is just one example of

police roadblocks, along with immigration

how militarism impacts our communities.

raids, are often used to detain and deport

In order to build safe and healthy

undocumented migrants. In 2019, Florida

communities, we need to organize

Governor Ron De Santis signed SB 168

against all forms of state violence.

into law, an “anti-sanctuary city” bill that

Community Justice Project. 2019. “Driving Without a License,” Report produced for WeCount! Homestead, Florida.

The Toxic Truth

The harmful environmental conditions
at the detention camp are a problem
of environmental racism. But this is
not the only example of environmental
racism faced by community members in

We see other examples
of environmental
racism in detention
and incarceration of
people across the U.S.

Homestead. The town is an agricultural
community, home to vegetable and fruit
crops and to nurseries for ornamental
plants and palms. Farmworkers are

the Northwest Detention Center outside

regularly exposed to environmental

of Tacoma, Washington; and the Federal

hazards, such as extreme heat (being

Correctional Complex in Victorville,

made worse by climate change) and toxic

California, a federal prison that doubles

pesticides, that lead to long-term health

as an ICE detention facility on what used

harms. For years, AFSC has helped

to be the George Air Force Base. The

migrant farmworkers and low-income

detention camp in Tornillo, Texas, and

community members organize to better

the Karnes County Residential Center

protect themselves in the workplace.

in South Texas are both proximate
to environmental hazards, including

We see other examples of environmental

contaminated soil, air, and groundwater.61

racism in detention and incarceration
of people across the U.S. The detention

Following the Trump administration’s

camp for migrant children at Fort Bliss,

“zero-tolerance” immigration policy in

Texas, the largest military base in the

2018, Earthjustice submitted Freedom

United States, is adjacent to a military

of Information Act (FOIA) requests

Superfund site. Other detention camps

to the U.S. Army and the Air Force to

on or near Superfund sites include

obtain information about the military

camps at the Lackland Air Force Base

bases where the Departments of

and Goodfellow Air Force Base in Texas;

Homeland Security (DHS) and Health

Global Environmental Justice Project. 2019. “Toxic Detention: The Trend of Contamination in the American Immigration
System,” UC Santa Barbara. Report available at: https://gejp.es.ucsb.edu/sites/secure.lsit.ucsb.edu.envs.d7_gejp2/files/
sitefiles/publication/GEJP%20Special%20Report%202019.pdf. See also Earthjustice, Toxic Cages: Toxic contaminants at
Goodfellow Air Force Base put children’s health at risk, February 2019. Available at: https://earthjustice.org/sites/default/
files/files/Goodfellow_report_2019-02-11.pdf.

The Toxic Truth

Interfaith organizing allies from Temple Beth Shalom deliver letters to youth detained at the Homestead
detention camp, 2019. Photographer: Lis-Marie Alvarado.

and Human Services (HHS) proposed

government immediately provide the

the construction of temporary facilities

requested information. For Fort Bliss

to detain unaccompanied children

and Goodfellow, the records obtained

and families. The sites identified, Fort

from litigation revealed that during the

Bliss and Goodfellow Air Force Base,

clean-up remediation process, some of

shared a common characteristic: these

their sites were deemed adequate for

bases have known toxic waste sites

industrial or commercial use, but not

like radiological contaminants and

for residential use, which is alarming

hazardous chemicals that put human

information if temporary detention

health at risk. In 2020, Earthjustice

centers were to be constructed nearby or

also submitted a FOIA request to DHS

on these sites. The records also revealed

and HHS for records pertaining to the

that logistically, searching for potential

Tornillo detention center expansion and

detention centers sites in military bases

the safety and environmental analysis

is a yearly recurring process, and while

of the site. The lack of timely responses

DHS ultimately decided not to pursue

to the FOIA requests resulted in

temporary detention on these military

Earthjustice filing FOIA lawsuits between

bases in 2018 because of the monetary

2018 and 2020, demanding that the

expense, HHS remains willing to continue

The Toxic Truth

to pursue this option, as demonstrated by

and lobbying efforts. Local coalition

their decision in 202162 to move forward

members traveled to Washington, D.C. to

with a temporary detention center at

protest in the capital. AFSC also helped

Fort Bliss. For Tornillo, the process of

train and prepare our youth leaders in

receiving records through litigation is

Homestead to advocate for their detained

currently ongoing.

peers.63

Injustices like these have gone on for far

Through the campaign, organizers were

too long—and communities across the

responsible for the behind-the-scenes

U.S. are taking a stand to end them. In

work of actions and communications,

Homestead, AFSC has supported young

and community members stepped up

people and other community members in

to mobilize more people. Faith leaders

organizing against detention, militarism,

talked with others at their centers of

and environmental racism.

worship, gathering them to join protests
and rallies outside the detention center.

As part of our efforts to shut down

Youth leaders collected handwritten

the detention camp in Homestead, we

letters of support for the youth detained

brought together communities of faith

and spoke during a youth-led press

in South Florida—and connected with

conference.

advocacy on the national level. We
helped establish the #EndChildDetention

These efforts paid off. In October 2019,

campaign with local and national

the detention camp in Homestead was

partners. Locally, immigrant rights

closed. Today we must ensure that the

organizations, environmentalists,

Homestead facility remains closed for

medical professionals, teachers, LGBTQ+

good. And that we continue to support

groups, faith allies and youth were part

young people and other community

of the coalition in Homestead. On the

members organizing against detention,

national level larger immigrant rights

militarism, and environmental racism in

organizations and progressive policy

their communities.

groups assisted in constructing policy

Earthjustice. 2021. “Groups: Biden Needs to End Child Detention at Fort Bliss Now,” Available at: https://earthjustice.org/
news/press/2021/groups-biden-needs-to-end-child-detention-at-fort-bliss-now.

Mariana Salome Martinez. 2020. “Case Study: Campaign to shut down the Homestead Child Detention Center,” Thesis
submitted for the degree of master’s in education, Community and Social Change, School of Education and Human
Development, University of Miami.

The Toxic Truth

Lis-Marie
Alvarado

Lis-Marie Alvarado presents to elected
officials on the End Child Detention Campaign.
Photographer: Bryan Vana.

I do not want Homestead to be treated like a garbage dump for Superfund
sites, nuclear plants and the Air Reserve Base. I no longer want harsh
pesticides to be used in fields that poison our water resources, wildlife,
and people. The situation in Homestead is infuriating since it is a place
that enriches Miami-Dade County, the state and private companies that
profit from agricultural work. Yet the workers and their families in the area
are very often seen as disposable and treated as lesser humans.
I would like for Homestead to be remembered not as a place that is used
to detain immigrant children but as a place where the community shut
down the largest for-profit detention center and set children free.
I would like for people to know there are organizations like AFSC who
organize those directly impacted by environmental racism and structural
oppression. Collectively we are building local alternatives that center
people’s power, ecological resilience and respect for immigrants.
Homestead for me is a beautiful, thriving place, where nature and
community can live together, prosper, and inspire others to take action.”

The Toxic Truth

Guadalupe
De La Cruz
Guadalupe de la Cruz speaks to protestors at a
car caravan in April 2021 protesting the public
announcement to reopen the Homestead
Detention Center. Photographer: Carrie Feit.

“

For years we’ve been organizing just around farmworker and labor rights
issues and training people how to really protect yourself in the workplace.
We in South Florida are Ground Zero…our organizing intentionally
highlights the intersection of climate change and migration, because
climate change affects farmworkers, who face hotter days every year.
Climate change also affects the crops—these disasters destroy crops and
livelihoods. And the conditions that people live and work in causes longterm health hazards, including from pesticides. And we are seeing that our
government designates toxic and contaminated land to house and to hold
migrants; it’s not just Homestead, we have seen detention centers in and
around toxic places, these detention centers on toxic lands, these jails and
prisons on toxic land.
Our work is about making these connections and understanding how
environmental injustice affects immigrant, undocumented, and people of
color.”

The Toxic Truth

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Mariana Martinez speaking outside the US Capitol in Washington DC during a press conference
with members of Congress and faith leaders advocating against child detention in 2019.
Photographer: Lis-Marie Alvarado.

Mariana
Martinez

“

I am proud and inspired by the leadership in our community
and organizations that took on this monster of a fight.
We created local change that saved lives and
put pressure on national policy.”

The Toxic Truth

OUR DEMANDS
We demand that the Biden administration:
1. Permanently close the Homestead detention camp, guaranteeing that no person
will ever be detained or incarcerated there again.

2. Carry out comprehensive soil, groundwater, and air testing at the site of the
Homestead detention camp, so that the children detained, their families, and
the public can fully understand the hazards and risks faced at the camp. All
environmental testing should evaluate exposure and toxicity against a baseline that
is protective of children’s health.

3. Conduct an assessment of noise exposure to show how children detained at the
camp may have been affected. All environmental testing should evaluate exposure
and toxicity against a baseline that is protective of children’s health.

END ALL DETENTION OF MIGRANT CHILDREN
Not here, not anywhere
Decriminalize and de-stigmatize the presence of migrant children in
the U.S. Reunite children with their families or place them in the care of
sponsors as quickly as possible; fund and implement community-based
alternatives that comply with the rights of children at all stages when
in the custody and care of the federal government. Enact any and all
immigration policies that uphold the rights, dignity, and humanity of all
people. Migrant children should be in nurturing, safe
environments designed for their wellbeing.

&Jill

The Toxic Truth

ijZ

Youth protester at the gates of the Homestead detention center, 2018. Photographer: Adam Barkan.

NOTHING ABOUT
US WITHOUT US
Two projects that are key in our work in Homestead are:

Seeds of Resistance
The AFSC organized impacted

We organize youth to prepare a new

communities to resist environmental

generation of creative, community-

violence, militarism, and detention.

engaged leaders for the immigrant rights

This means working closely with

movement in Homestead and South

undocumented people and youth. To

Florida. Art is a key component of our

build power and fight for the community

organizing. Many of the artists featured in

we want.

this report were key leaders in organizing
to successfully shut down the detention
camp, twice.

The Toxic Truth

Yoana of the AFSC leading a protest at the Homestead detention center, 2019. Photographer: Guadalupe
de la Cruz.

Painting Towards Freedom

Led by organizer Guadalupe de la Cruz,
the youth came together and created art
about their lives, the challenges they face,
their families, and their communities.
Our organizing provided a platform for
youth to find healing, community, and
power in the process of making art.
Youth connected their own experiences
of environmental racism, militarism,
and immigration to the detention camp.
Together, we created a vision of our
community, and organized to bring that
vision into the world.

The Toxic Truth

Steven Fisher, “Hope”

Page 40, clockwise from top left:
Noemi de la Cruz, “The Lost One”
Yoana Morales, “Children don’t belong in cages”
Renee Souvenir, “Forgotten Children”

The Toxic Truth

Top:
AFSC youth from South Florida showcasing art done to support the closure of Homestead detention center in
Washington, D.C., 2018. Photographer: Guadalupe de la Cruz.
Bottom left:
“Children don’t belong in cages.” AFSC youth prepare for an action demanding the closure of the Homestead
detention center and freedom for all children, 2018. Photographer: Guadalupe de la Cruz.
Bottom right:
AFSC youth organizers create art as part of the Painting Towards Freedom workshops.
Photographer: Guadalupe de la Cruz.

The Toxic Truth

ABOUT THE AUTHORS
The American Friends Service Committee
(AFSC) is a Quaker organization that
promotes a world free of violence, inequality,
and oppression. We work with communities
and partners worldwide to challenge
injustice and build sustainable peace with
justice. Guided by the Quaker belief in the
divine light of each person, we focus on
advancing peacebuilding, just economies,
healing justice approaches, and humane
immigration responses so all people can
flourish. The AFSC works for a world where
migrants, refugees, and internally displaced
people have the power to determine where
they live and the opportunity to thrive
in society. We work to address both the
economic and political drivers of migration
in multiple countries as well as to support
migrants and refugees, whether they are
in transit or settled in new communities.
These efforts include legal services, training,
human rights monitoring, humanitarian
relief, and immigrant-led organizing and
advocacy for just immigration policies.

Earthjustice is the nation’s premier
nonprofit public interest environmental law
organization. We wield the power of the law
and the strength of partnership to protect
people’s health, to preserve magnificent
places and wildlife, and to advance clean
energy and combat climate change.
Earthjustice believes the law is one of the
best tools we have to create lasting change.
Earthjustice works in partnership with
client organizations and allies to ensure the
right to a healthy environment, to hold the
powerful accountable, and to enforce and
advocate for strong environmental laws.
Earthjustice’s Florida Regional Office works
for a healthy and safe environment for
detained migrants and other vulnerable
communities, to protect and restore our
unique waterways and ecosystems, and for
climate justice and a just transition to clean
energy.

AFSC Florida builds the power of refugees
and immigrants in Florida through
leadership development, community
education, cultural work, art, coalition
building, and campaigns for immigrant
rights. We also accompany individuals and
families through the complex immigration
system by assisting clients in the process
of becoming legal residents or naturalized
citizens.

The Toxic Truth

AFSC youth organizers in hazmat suits protest environmental violence at the Homestead detention camp and demand
that the detention camp remain closed, 2021. Photographer: Armando Carrada.

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