Conditions inside Alligator Alcatraz, the makeshift migrant detention center in Florida’s Everglades, are inhumane, detainees and their family members say.
Since the facility opened earlier this month, multiple outlets have reported on harsh conditions faced by detainees, including spoiled food, mosquitoes and other bugs in cells, lights that stay on for 24 hours, denial of religious rights, and limited access to showers and working toilets.
Cuban musician Leamsy La Figura told CBS News in a phone call that were was no water to take a bath, adding: “They only brought a meal once a day and it had maggots. They never take off the lights for 24 hours. The mosquitoes are as big as elephants.”
Another detainee told the outlet that detainees were treated “like rats in an experiment.”
“They’re not respecting our human rights,” 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.”
A third man described how his mental health has deteriorated due to lack of medicine and it being “impossible to sleep with this white light that’s on all day.”
His Bible was also taken away, he said.
“They took the Bible I had and they said here there is no right to religion,” he said. “And my Bible is the one thing that keeps my faith, and now I’m losing my faith.”
Cuban migrant Vladimir Miranda told Telemundo 51 in a call that spotty electricity meant air conditioners won’t work in the humid South Florida heat.
Several wives of detainees all separately described similar scenes to the Miami Herald.
“Why would we treat a human like that?” the wife of a Venezuelan national said. “They come here for a better life. I don’t understand. We are supposed to be the greatest nation under God, but we forget that we’re under God.”
Access to attorneys is also dubious, one woman said.
State officials have denied allegations of inhumane conditions.
“Bugs and environmental factors are minimized in the facility, restraints are only utilized during transport outside of the detention centers, and visitation arrangements can be made upon request,” Stephanie Hartman, a spokeswoman for the state Division of Emergency Management, told the Herald. “All plumbing systems are working and operational.”
The mayor of Miami-Dade County, Daniella Levine Cava, on Tuesday wrote to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem demanding transparency. She also wrote to Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier asking for weekly site reporters, remote video monitoring, and site visits by an oversight team.
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