MIAMI—“Shut this down!” One woman uttered those three words to a crowd of listeners, who stood outside a migrant detention center in the Florida Everglades, where she says her fiancé has been held for a month.
“He’s going through some rough times,” she said. “He tried to commit suicide two weeks ago. … He has fungus from the water that goes into the tents. The food is horrible,” she alleges.
The woman shared her story during an interfaith vigil on Aug. 10, where faith leaders and activists prayed for imprisoned migrants and protested the existence of the detention center, which was erected about 75 miles away from Miami, Fla.
The facility, dubbed Alligator Alcatraz, is the focus of a fierce and passionate battle in President Donald Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration in the United States.
Detainees and their families continue to sound the alarm on alleged mistreatment and inhumane conditions inside the facility, which Florida officials have denied.
Thomas Kennedy, a consultant with the Florida Immigrant Coalition, who also recorded the woman’s story during the vigil, told The Final Call he spoke with some detainees who went on a hunger strike that lasted at least 10 days. The woman told the crowd her fiancé was one of them.
“They don’t have access to lawyers at all,” Mr. Kennedy said. “They don’t have access to an immigration court or an immigration judge or an immigration officer. They have to endure fluorescent lights, 24 hours a day, which obviously prevents them from getting adequate sleep.
They don’t have sufficient food. When they do eat, sometimes they’re given no longer than two, three minutes to eat their food. They have endured beatings, lack of adequate medical care, lack of medicine in there,” he alleges.
Mr. Kennedy says detainees have told him the strike was broken because some of those participating were transferred to other facilities. “It’s just really, really deplorable conditions, and [detainees] are just at their wits’ end,” Mr. Kennedy said. “They’re really violating these people’s Fourth Amendment rights.”
According to the New York Times, a detainee had a medical episode at the facility. Luis Manuel Rivas Velásquez was unconscious on his cell floor, and guards did not seem to know how to check his pulse, according to the Times.
These allegations are only a part of the reason why advocacy groups want the so-called Alligator Alcatraz to be shut down. Opponents recently got a small win from a federal judge in Miami on Aug. 7. U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams put a two-week pause on construction at the migrant detention center, while attorneys argue whether it violates environmental laws.
The order comes as the result of a lawsuit filed in federal court by environmental advocacy groups, as well as the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians. The detention camp sits 20 minutes from the main Miccosukee reservation and less than 100 yards from the tribe’s Panther Camp.
“We’re pleased that the judge saw the urgent need to put a pause on additional construction, and we look forward to advancing our ultimate goal of protecting the unique and imperiled Everglades ecosystem from further damage caused by this mass detention facility,”
Eve Samples said in an Aug. 7 press release. Ms. Samples is the executive director of Friends of the Everglades, one of the environmental groups listed in the lawsuit.
The suit claims the facility threatens the sensitive environment of the Everglades, which is home to protected plants and animals, and would reverse billions of dollars put into environmental restoration.
The temporary restraining order halts construction projects involving the facility, including lighting, paving, and fencing. It’s built on the grounds of the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport, located in southwest Florida.
The airfield, located on land owned by Miami-Dade County, along with preserved land, was not in use. Construction halted in 1970 because of environmental concerns.
Florida State Rep. Michele Rayner, one of the Democratic lawmakers who has been heavily involved with advocating against the facility, told The Final Call that she sees the temporary halt as a positive sign.
“I think it is the court signaling to folks that there are issues with not only the construction of this concentration camp, but also, just with the harm that would happen to the environment,” Ms. Rayner said. “It is a small win.”
The temporary order does not impact the facility’s ability to house migrants. That’s what opponents are still fighting to change.
In a Miami federal court, Judge Williams heard days of witness testimony on the environmental impacts of the facility and is weighing claims that officials bypassed federal environmental regulations when they built the site.
According to cbsnews.com, she ruled Aug. 13 that she needed more time to decide whether the facility should be shut down for good. Judge Williams said she will not rule until the end of a temporary construction freeze, which expires Aug. 21, the news outlet reported.
Other lawsuits are also making their way through the courts, including a civil rights suit, which claims detainees’ constitutional rights are being violated. Ms. Rayner is also one of several Democratic lawmakers behind a lawsuit against Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, a Republican, arguing that he overstepped his authority in blocking legislative oversight of the facility.
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced plans to build the so-called Alligator Alcatraz on June 19, and two days later, protesters arrived at the site. Atty. General Uthmeier called it “the one-stop shop to carry out President Trump’s mass deportation agenda.” By July 2, the facility had taken in its first detainees.
Gov. DeSantis, a former presidential candidate, plowed ahead with the construction of the facility. He seized control of the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport in 2023, after signing executive orders to declare a statewide emergency on what he called an illegal immigration crisis.
Rep. Rayner and others agree that the battle over the future of the facility will play out in the courts. “We’re seeing that the state is just not responding to folks until the court makes them respond,” Rep. Rayner said.
“I think that the hope is that there are members of the judicial branch that, while they are grateful that they were appointed by Ron DeSantis, they uphold their belief that upholding the law is more important than their allegiance to anyone that may or may not have appointed them,” she added.