Detainees being held at the newly opened “Alligator Alcatraz” detention center in Florida say conditions are dire, with scarce food, no water to bathe, and constant bright lights making it difficult to sleep.
Leamsy “La Figura” Izquierdo, a Cuban artist who was arrested in Miami last week, told CBS News he was moved to the detention facility in the Everglades on Friday along with what he claims are more than 400 other detainees. Since then, Izquierdo says, he and other detainees have been treated poorly.
“There's no water to take a bath, it's been four days since I've taken a bath,” Izquierdo said.
Izquierdo, who was arrested on battery and assault with a deadly weapon, said detainees are fed once a day with food that has “maggots” in it and are not provided toothpaste.
“They only brought a meal once a day and it has maggots, he added. “They never take of the lights for 24 hours. The mosquitoes are as big as elephants.”
Another detainee, an unnamed Colombian man, said his mental health was deteriorating without access to his medication and Bible.
“I'm on the edge of losing my mind. I've gone three days without taking my medicine," he told CBS. "It's impossible to sleep with this white light that's on all day."
"They took the Bible I had and they said here 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 added.
Alligator Alcatraz is the recently erected temporary detention facility located deep in the Florida Everglades. It was created quickly to help alleviate pressure from local and state jails that have been directed to detain immigrants.
The facility, managed by the Florida Division of Emergency Management, is expected to hold anywhere from 3,000 to 5,000 people rounded up as part of the Trump administration’s mass deportation plan.
But because of the quick turnaround to turn the former Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport into a detention center, detainees are being housed in metal enclosures inside large tents while utilities are being provided by mobile units.
Another detainee, who was not named by CBS, told the news outlet that those running the facility were not respecting “human rights.” He described being at Alligator Alcatraz as “a form of torture.”
"They're not respecting our human rights. We're human beings; we're not dogs. We're like rats in an experiment,” he said.
"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,” he added.
Izquierdo is among those with permanent residency in the United States, his girlfriend told NBC Miami. But after he was arrested, Immigration and Customs Enforcement detained him to determine whether or not he should be deported.
The charges he faces stem from a violent dispute with a tow company worker, wh was trying to repossess a jet ski, according to a police report seen by the outlet.
Human rights activists, such as the ACLU, have denounced Alligator Alcatraz and raised concerns about the inhuman conditions detainees could potentially face.
“This project dehumanizes people, strips them of their rights, and diverts public dollars from the services our communities need,” Bacardi Jackson, the executive director of the ACLU of Florida, said.
In addition to human rights concerns, environmentalists have raised issues with the administration building the facility on the Everglades. Members of the Indigenous community in Florida have also raised alarm that it’s built on sacred land.
The Independent has reached out to the Florida Division of Emergency Management’s Office for comment.
