In 1980, Fidel Castro opened the Mariel Port, and approximately 125,000 Cubans left en masse. At the same time, more than 10,000 Haitians fled the Duvalier regime and landed in the United States. The U.S. government established a makeshift processing center at a former missile site, Krome North and South, to house and manage the unprecedented number of Caribbean migrants. While the Refugee Act of 1980 opened more opportunities for asylum seekers, all too often Haitians arriving in the U.S. faced discrimination and deportation, and after 1980, detention at centers like Krome. After 1996 legislation merged immigration law violations and criminal charges, overcrowding became a significant concern. Since 9/11, Krome’s population has diversified; today its 600 male detainees include foreign nationals from Central and South America, Africa, and Asia, as well as the Caribbean.