Case 1:17-cv-24574-DPG Document 80 Entered on FLSD Docket 02/11/2018 Page 1 of 5

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA
MIAMI DIVISION
Farah IBRAHIM, Ibrahim MUSA,
Khalid Abdallah MOHMED, Ismail
JIMCALE ABDULLAH, Abdiwali
Ahmed SIYAD, Ismael Abdirashed
MOHAMED, and Khadar Abdi
IBRAHIM on behalf of themselves
and all those similarly situated,
Plaintiffs/Petitioners,
vs.

Case No. 1:17-cv-24574-DPG

Juan ACOSTA, Assistant Field
Officer Director, Miami Field Office,
Immigration and Customs Enforcement;
David HARDIN, Sheriff of Glades
County; Marc J. MOORE, Field Office
Director, Miami Field Office,
Immigration and Customs Enforcement;
Thomas HOMAN, Acting Director,
Immigration and Customs Enforcement;
Kirstjen NIELSEN, Secretary of Homeland
Security.
Defendants/Respondents.
_____________________________________
PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION FOR EMERGENCY HEARING
ON REQUEST FOR TRANSFER
Plaintiffs, by and through undersigned counsel, move for an emergency hearing on their
prior request to be immediately transferred out of Glades County Detention Center (“Glades”) in
Moore Haven, Florida and state the following:
1. On January 17, 2018, Plaintiffs filed a motion to hold defendants in contempt or in the
alternative to enforce court order. As grounds for the motion, Plaintiffs inter alia
pointed to the lack of attorney access and allegations of severe abuse at Glades.
2. At a hearing before the Court on February 1, 2018, counsel for Defendants represented
to the Court that he would ask Defendants if they would agree to move the 52 Somali

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nationals out of Glades to Krome Service Processing Center (“Krome”) in Miami,
Florida. Based on this representation, the Court deferred its ruling on the motion for
contempt. To date, undersigned counsel has not received a decision from Defendants
on the transfer issue or a timeline for a decision.
3. Conditions at Glades have deteriorated even further in the past 48 hours to the point
that the Court’s immediate intervention is necessary to protect the safety, and even the
lives, of Glades detainees. Undersigned counsel is concerned that at least one Somali
detainee, Agane Warsame, has been grievously injured such that he requires immediate
hospitalization and that others have been severely harmed and are in imminent danger
of being further harmed or killed.
4. As discussed in Plaintiffs’ motion for contempt, officers at Glades routinely use pepper
spray in a dangerous manner, as well as beatings and other types of excessive force.
5. On February 8, 2018, undersigned counsel Rebecca Sharpless had a telephone
conversation with Dexter Lee, counsel for Defendants, during which she informed Mr.
Lee that the abuse at Glades had gotten so bad that she was concerned that someone
might die. She explained that officers continue to use pepper spray into enclosed
isolation cells and that Fuad Dhuuh, a Somali man, was so injured that he was unable
to breathe and passed out.
6. She urged Mr. Lee to ask Defendant Acosta to transfer the Somali nationals to Krome.
7. On February 9, 2018, undersigned counsel wrote to Defendant Juan Acosta and Dexter
Lee, counsel for Defendants, reiterating what had happened, the concern that the Glades
officers are at risk of killing someone, and that Defendants should transfer the Somali
nationals out of Glades. Undersigned counsel also informed Mr. Acosta and Mr. Lee

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that the attorney access has also gotten worse at Glades and that Glades is improperly
subjecting Somali men to more than 30 days of segregation.
8. In the evening of February 9, 2018, an even more deeply troubling incident occurred
involving severe pepper spray and physical abuse. Some of the toilets in the isolation
cells were backing up, spewing filth on the floor, and making it impossible to use the
toilets. The Somali men in isolation complained, asked to use the bathroom, and one,
Agane Warsame, asked for a mop to clean his cell. Officers sprayed pepper spray
through the slots of their cells, making them unable to breathe. The officers called the
men “niggers” and told them to “go back to the jungle.” Glades officers inflicted
beatings on Agane Warsame and, upon information and belief, at least one other man.
9. Upon learning today what had occurred, attorneys immediately went to Glades in an
attempt to meet with Mr. Warsame and the other victims. Access issues prevented the
attorneys from meeting with all of the victims, but the attorneys were able to meet with
Mr. Warsame and observe his injuries. See Declarations of Andrea MontavonMcKillip, Andrea Crumine, and Lily Hartmann. They report that Mr. Warsame is so
injured he cannot walk and is in a wheelchair. His hip may be broken and his shoulder
may be dislocated. He may have a severe concussion. Despite numerous sick call
requests, he has not seen a doctor or been taken to a hospital. The attorneys who went
out to Glades requested that he be hospitalized. It is unknown whether the officers at
Glades have brought him to the hospital.
10. The incident report created by Glades officers confirms that the toilets were not
working and that the detainees had been pepper sprayed (including into the face) to the

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point that they had trouble breathing. The incident report is silent on the documented
physical abuse of Mr. Warsame by officers.
11. Undersigned counsel Lisa Lehner conveyed the above to both Defendant Acosta and
Mr. Lee by email and a telephone call earlier today. Ms. Lehner also communicated
that Plaintiffs would be filing this motion. Undersigned counsel Rebecca Sharpless
contacted Mr. Lee for Defendants’ position on this motion and he stated that
Defendants are still investigating what has happened and do not have a position at this
time.
In light of the above, Plaintiffs move for an emergency hearing on the issue of whether the
Somali nationals should be immediately transferred out of Glades to Krome or released and further
request that Defendants preserve all video and other recordings, notes, and other evidence since
the evening of February 9, 2018.
Respectfully submitted,
By: /s/ Rebecca Sharpless
Rebecca Sharpless
Florida Bar No. 0131024
Immigration Clinic
University of Miami School of Law
1311 Miller Drive Suite E-273
Coral Gables, Florida 33146
Tel: (305) 284-3576, direct
Tel: (305) 284-6092, clinic
Email: rsharpless@law.miami.edu
Andrea Montavon-McKillip
Fla. Bar No. 56401
Legal Aid Service of Broward County, Inc.
491 N. State Rd. 7
Plantation, FL 33317
(954) 736-2493
(954) 736-2484 (fax)
Email: amontavon@legalaid.org

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Lisa Lehner
Florida Bar No. 382191
Andrea Crumrine * (Admitted Pro hac vice)
Americans for Immigrant Justice
3000 Biscayne Blvd., Suite 400
Miami, FL 33137
Phone: (305) 573-1106
Email: llehner@aijustice.org
Email: acrumrine@aijustice.org
Benjamin Casper Sanchez* (Admitted Pro hac vice)
James H. Binger Center for New Americans
University of Minnesota Law School
190 Mondale Hall
229 19th Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN 55455
(612) 625-6484
Email: caspe010@umn.edu
Michele Garnett McKenzie* (Admitted Pro hac vice)
The Advocates for Human Rights
330 Second Avenue South, Suite 800
Minneapolis, MN 55401
(612) 746-4685
Email: mmckenzie@advrights.org
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
I HEREBY CERTIFY that a true and correct copy of the foregoing Plaintiffs’ Motion for
Emergency Hearing was served via electronic filing on February 11, 2018 on all counsel of record
via transmission of Notices of Electronic Filing generated by the CM/ECF system.

/s/ Rebecca Sharpless
REBECCA SHARPLESS