Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum confirmed on Monday there are more than 80 nationals held at the Florida detention center known as "Alligator Alcatraz."
"They are all in communication with the Mexican consulate in Miami. Our colleague, former Chiapas Governor Rutillo Escandon is permanently going there to see what Mexicans held there need," Sheinbaum said.
Sheinbaum went on to say that her administration is working so detainees can be released as soon as possible. She noted that there are no reports of human rights violations there but her government "evidently" disagrees with "these kinds of detention centers."
However, despite Sheinbaum's claims, two Mexican brothers recently released from the center voiced their intention to file a lawsuit over alleged abuses while in detention.
The brothers in question, Carlos Martin Gonzalez-Meza and Oscarl Alejandro Gonzalez Meza, have been returned to their home countries without criminal charges. Their case made headlines in Mexico as they claimed they were in the U.S. legally.
Advocates are also calling for the facility to be shut down as they decry "unlivable" conditions that include mosquitoe-ridden units and lights being on all the time.
"Detention conditions are unlivable," Tessa Petit, executive director of the Florida Immigrant Coalition, said in a press conference in late July, as reported by NBC News. In another passage of the conference, Rafael Collado, an inmate being held there, said through his wife's mobile phone that the place is "like a dog cage." He added that poor sanitation and floodwater from recent storms led him to get fungus on his feet.
Construction at the center was halted last week over environmental concerns. Concretely, District Judge Kathleen Williams issued a temporary restraining order blocking the construction of additional paving, tall lighting, filling, excavating or fencing at the camp.
She upheld a request by the Miccosukee Tribe and two environmental groups, who requested operations be paralyzed until an environmental review is conducted.
Experts claimed at the hearing that further construction at the center could be detrimental to the area, driving away wildlife and adding possible carcinogens.
Plaintiffs also argued that operations are endangering the Big Cypress National Preserve and the Big Cypress Area, considered ecologically sensitive and protected. They hold threatened species including the Everglade snail kite, the Florida panther, wood stork and the Florida bonneted bat.
Florida Department of Emergency Management executive director Kevin Guthrie, named as a defendant in the case, said the state is not subjected to the required regulations. He added that the environmental impact is low because the location was already an active airfield.
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