22-07-2025
Florida nonprofits, doctors, families call for immediate shut down of Alligator Alcatraz
Several Florida nonprofits, medical professionals, public health experts and families impacted by the Alligator Alcatraz detention facility in the Everglades are calling for it to be shut down due to what they are calling inhumane conditions and environmental damage.
On Tuesday morning, they're holding a news conference outside the facility to outline the dangerous conditions.
Flood-prone tents are used to house the detainees at the hastily constructed camp at the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport in the Big Cypress National Preserve.
Detainees have said the cages where they are forced to sleep are crowded and the food is sub-standard. Some have said they've gone days without showering or getting prescription medicine, and at times the air conditioners for the tents would abruptly shut off in the sweltering heat. They've said their drinking water comes from toilet spigots and sometimes the toilets back up, spilling feces on the ground.
"From the toilets and sink systems they use, which, if not cleaned regularly, can cause serious environmental contamination. We also understand there are temperature control issues in the cages. Sustained exposure to heat will not only help propagate germs and viruses but can also cause severe health issues up to cardiac arrest. This kind of treatment to human beings is not the American way," Tessa Petit, the co-executive director of the Florida Immigration Coalition, said in a statement.
Armen Henderson, executive director at Dade County Street Response, said the conditions are a blatant assault on human rights.
"By imprisoning innocent people in tents surrounded by fences and barbed wire, with no proper sanitation, it is nothing less than a concentration camp. This is a public health crisis unfolding in our own backyard," he said in a statement.
The Florida Division of Emergency Management has said reports about the poor conditions at the camp are untrue and the facility meets all required standards and is in good working order.
The state has estimated it will cost roughly $450 million a year to operate the detention facility.
The Florida Immigrant Coalition and its partners are calling on the state to immediately evacuate the camp and close down the facility. They also want emergency health screenings and care for all current and recently released detainees.
They are also demanding full legal access for detainees and independent inspections of conditions. Detainees have reportedly been denied legal counsel through standard processes.
