Amnesty International has published a report alleging that detainees at a Florida immigration jail known as “Alligator Alcatraz” were subjected to cruel and degrading treatment, including being shackled inside a small metal cage and left outside without water for up to a day. The human rights group said the conditions at the state-run Everglades facility and at Miami’s Krome immigration processing centre amounted to torture in some cases.
The cage, referred to by detainees as “the box”, is used for arbitrary punishment, according to the report. One detainee described being placed in the box, exposed to the sun, humidity and mosquitoes. Another said guards punished fellow inmates who tried to help him obtain medication by putting them in the box for an entire day.
The Florida Department of Emergency Management (DEM) operates “Alligator Alcatraz” independently of federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Molly Best, press secretary to Florida’s Republican governor Ron DeSantis, dismissed the report as “a politically motivated attack” and denied the allegations. DEM has previously denied mistreatment of migrants at the camp, which opened in July after a visit from Donald Trump.
The camp was ordered to close by a federal judge in August after criticism and a lawsuit by environmental groups, but two Trump-appointed appellate judges blocked the closure, allowing it to continue operating with hundreds of detainees. Amnesty’s report also details unsanitary conditions, including overflowing toilets, limited access to showers, poor food and water, and lack of privacy.
At Krome North Service processing centre, Amnesty documented delays in intake procedures, overcrowding, inadequate medical care, and disciplinary practices including prolonged solitary confinement. One Amnesty staffer witnessed a guard slamming a metal door flap against a man’s injured hand. Violence and racist abuse by guards were reportedly commonplace.
“Krome’s extreme overcrowding, medical neglect, and reports of humiliating and degrading treatment paint a picture of harrowing human rights violations,” said Amy Fischer, Amnesty’s director of refugee and migrant rights.
