Detainees being held at the Florida migrant center known as "Alligator Alcatraz" are decrying what they describe as inhumane conditions at the facility, including lack of water to bathe, food with maggots and "mosquitoes as big as elephants."
Speaking to CBS News, Cuban reggaeton artist Leamsy La Figura, who was arrested in Miami-Dade last week and taken to the facility, said he had not taken a bath in four days since arriving last Friday.
He went on to say that "they only brought a meal once a day and it had maggots." "They never take off the lights for 24 hours," Leamsy added.
Other detainees told the outlet that their human rights are not being respected, with one saying "we're like rats in an experiment." "I don't know their motive for doing this, if it's a form of torture. A lot of us have our residency documents and we don't understand why we're here," the person added.
A Colombian detainee said he's on the brink of mental collapse. "I've gone three days without taking my medicine." He added that his Bible was taken after being told "there is no right to religion." "And my Bible is the one thing that keeps my faith, and now I'm losing my faith," he said.
Authorities have not responded to CBS News about the allegations. However, Democratic Florida lawmakers who attempted to enter the premises last weeks were prevented from doing so.
"They stopped us pretty immediately," Florida state Rep. Anna Eskamani, who attempted to visit the facility along with four other Democratic lawmakers, told CNN. Eskamani and her colleagues were drawn to the detention center by reports of flooding following a storm on Tuesday.
Later, a general counsel from the Florida Division of Emergency Management told them "security concerns" were the reason for their non-admittance.
"If it's unsafe for us, how is it safe for the detainees?" Eskamani reportedly asked the general counsel.
"This is a blatant abuse of power and an attempt to conceal human rights violations from the public eye," the five lawmakers said in a joint statement.
"Alligator Alcatraz," dubbed by Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, was created by the federal and Florida state governments and is located in the states Everglades region, about 50 miles west of Miami.
The facility "will have up to 5,000 beds to house, process, and deport criminal illegal aliens," according to White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt. It "might be as good as the real Alcatraz," President Donald Trump said after visiting it.
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