Alarming reports are emerging from inside Florida’s controversial immigrant detention center, known as “Alligator Alcatraz,” with detainees and their advocates painting a grim picture of overcrowding, neglect, and abuse.
Newsweek spoke with both an attorney and a family member connected to detainees held at the remote Everglades facility, which is already facing public scrutiny for its harsh conditions and ballooning costs.
Legal Residents Detained Over Minor Offenses
Phillip Arroyo, attorney for a longtime U.S. resident and DACA recipient, said his client was arrested over a suspended license that was later proven valid. Despite the case being downgraded to a civil infraction, the individual was transferred to Alligator Alcatraz, a facility originally intended for “the worst of the worst,” according to President Trump. Arroyo said his client has since been denied medical treatment and described squalid conditions, including broken phones, verbal abuse, and lights kept on 24/7, making it impossible to sleep.
Reports of Medical Neglect, Verbal Abuse, and Unsanitary Living
Kimberly Gibson, whose daughter’s friend Braydon Cash-Brown is detained at the facility, said he was denied food and water for hours upon arrival, given only half a cup to drink, and later fell ill after consuming water with a strange taste and broken seal.
“He told us the toilets were overflowing, it was sweltering inside, and the guards were yelling at people just for looking at them,” Gibson told Newsweek. “He had no access to showers or clean water and still hasn’t received any medical care.”
Arroyo and Gibson both report that detainees are subjected to verbal harassment, with guards allegedly using racial slurs. Detainees also say they were denied access to working phones, limiting their ability to contact lawyers or family.
Conditions Raise Legal and Ethical Concerns
The detention center, located deep in the Florida Everglades, costs an estimated $450 million per year to operate—about $245 per bed per day. The facility runs under the federal 287(g) program, which allows state and local law enforcement to carry out federal immigration duties. Despite that, there’s no clear timeline for when detainees will be transferred to ICE custody or deported.
Critics argue that many people being held did not commit serious offenses and were already in the process of legalizing their status. “My friend had a court date and was doing everything by the book. He still ended up there,” said Shaunti Gibson in a social media post about Cash-Brown.
Flood of Detainees, Few Answers
According to documents obtained by the Miami Herald and Tampa Bay Times, more than 700 people are either currently detained at Alligator Alcatraz or scheduled to be transferred there. Reports indicate detainees are transported in the middle of the night, sometimes left in handcuffs on buses for hours without food or water.
Legal advocates and human rights groups are calling for federal oversight.
“Detaining people in such an extreme climate, with minimal resources and rampant health violations, is nothing short of inhumane,” said Florida immigration attorney Raul Gastesi.
DHS Defends the Facility
Despite the mounting backlash, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem defended the program, stating: “Under President Trump’s leadership, we’re moving at turbo speed to carry out the American people’s mandate for mass deportations.”
But as conditions worsen, legal experts warn the facility could face lawsuits and public condemnation. For many, Alligator Alcatraz is quickly becoming a symbol not of security—but of cruelty and chaos in America’s immigration system.
