Just under six month after Trump signed once again a deportation executive order giving ICE carte blanche to deport, lawfully or unlawfully those deemed not to be citizens or legal residents in the US, reports have begun to resurface once again, as they did four years ago, of abuses being perpetrated in the camps where they jail all these individuals while they await to be kicked out of the country. The first to make the news, although it will not be the only one is Florida’s Alligator Alcatraz, which is a state-run detention center, buried deep in the Everglades and is going though what has been described as a humanitarian crisis playing out behind locked gates.
The reports coming from inside this center are bone chilling, detainees are forced to live in cage-like enclosures swarming with mosquitoes with bright fluorescent lights that stay on 24/7, making sleep nearly impossible, and filthy conditions that propagate illnesses and lice. There is limited access to food, almost nonexistent medical care for chronic illnesses, and barely any chance to shower.
As Tessa Petit, who leads the Florida Immigrant Coalition, aptly summarized, “Detention conditions are unlivable.”
The Alligator Alcatraz detention center in Florida, first but not only example of government cruelty
Regrettably, this is not a surprise, as the same thing happened during Trump’s last presidency, but the numbers keep climbing and the conditions keep getting worse. According to a new Human Rights Watch report, over 56,000 individuals were held in ICE custody as of June 20, up 40% from last year and the highest ever recorded in the U.S. And the worst part, nearly three out of four do not even have a criminal record and many of them are either legal residents, citizens or tourists that have been swept up in the craze.
The HRW report’s investigation described “abusive practices” at three separate centers over a six-month span in the Florida center, and the New York Immigration Coalition released footage from a processing center in NYC showing dozens of men crammed onto foil sheets on the floor, proving that conditions are bad all around the country. Similar reports have surfaced in other states like California, Texas, and Louisiana, with detainees describing everything from hunger to poor hygiene to untreated illnesses.
A prisoner from Alligator Alcatraz was able to contact his wife on the outside, Sonia Vichara, who shared the contents of the call with the media and the public in a press conference. As he explained, the facility is constantly damp from floodwater there is limited shower access, and developing a foot fungus as a result of poor sanitation is common. The call was cut short by a guard when he started explaining how guards strip detainees naked during transfers and that there is no set schedule for receiving his blood pressure meds, which means the abuse goes a lot deeper than we know.
The Department of Homeland Security is denying all these claims, just like they did before. DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin told NBC News in an email that detainees are provided meals, medical care, and are able to contact loved ones and legal counsel. “Ensuring the safety, security, and well-being of individuals in our custody is a top priority,” she wrote. She also said ICE is trying to increase detention space while preventing overcrowding.
But there is too much evidence to the contrary, as well as testimonials from those who were captured “by accident” and then released because of their legal status as either citizens or legal residents with rights. Plus, since Alligator Alcatraz is a state-operated facility enforcing federal immigration law it is operating in a legal gray area which gives guards and ICE a lot more leeway to violate prisoner’s rights.