Internewscast Journal
  • Home
  • US News
  • Local News
  • Health
  • People
  • Guest Post
  • Support Our Cause
Internewscast Journal
  • Home
  • US News
  • Local News
  • Health
  • People
  • Guest Post
  • Support Our Cause
Home Local news Inmates Report Unsanitary Conditions with Worms in Food and Sewage by Beds at ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ Facility
  • Local news

Inmates Report Unsanitary Conditions with Worms in Food and Sewage by Beds at ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ Facility

    Detainees describe worms in food, sewage near beds inside ‘Alligator Alcatraz’
    Up next
    2 migrants apprehended, 14 others rescued from storm drain in El Paso
    Two Migrants Caught, 14 Rescued from Storm Drain in El Paso
    Published on 11 July 2025
    Author
    Internewscast
    Tags
    • Alcatraz,
    • Alligator,
    • Alligator Alcatraz,
    • Atara Eig,
    • beds,
    • describe,
    • detainees,
    • Donald Trump,
    • Florida,
    • food,
    • Immigration,
    • inside,
    • Josephine Arroyo,
    • Katie Blankenship,
    • near,
    • Politics,
    • ron desantis,
    • Sewage,
    • Stephanie Hartman,
    • U.S. news,
    • worms
    Share this @internewscast.com
    FacebookXRedditPinterest

    MIAMI – There have been reports of worms found in the food, toilets unable to flush leading to floors being flooded with waste, and detainees going days without showers or necessary medications. The facility is plagued with mosquitoes and insects, lights remain on throughout the night, and air conditioning units frequently fail despite the tropical climate. Additionally, detainees can only communicate with their lawyers and families via recorded phone calls.

    Just a few days after President Donald Trump visited a newly opened immigration detention center in Florida’s Everglades, named “Alligator Alcatraz” by officials, these conditions were reported by those imprisoned inside.

    Lawyers, advocates, detainees themselves, and their families are voicing concerns over the improvised migrant detention facility, hurriedly constructed by the administration of Republican Governor Ron DeSantis on an isolated airfield amid swampland. The facility started receiving detainees on July 2.

    “These are human beings who have inherent rights, and they have a right to dignity,” said immigration attorney Josephine Arroyo. ”And they’re violating a lot of their rights by putting them there.”

    Government officials have adamantly disputed the conditions described by detainees, their attorneys and family members, but have provided few details, and have denied access to the media. A televised tour for Trump and DeSantis showed rows of chain-link cages, each containing dozens of bunkbeds, under large white tents.

    “The reporting on the conditions in the facility is completely false. The facility meets all required standards and is in good working order,” said Stephanie Hartman, a spokesperson for the Florida Division of Emergency Management, which built the center.

    A group of Democratic lawmakers sued the DeSantis administration for access. The administration is allowing a site visit by state legislators and members of Congress on Saturday, July 12.

    Descriptions of attorneys and families differ from the government’s “model”

    Families and attorneys who spoke with The Associated Press relayed detainees’ accounts of a place they say is unsanitary and lacks adequate medical care, pushing some into a state of extreme distress.

    Such conditions make other immigration detention centers where advocates and staff have warned of unsanitary confinements, medical neglect and a lack of food and water seem “advanced,” said immigration attorney Atara Eig.

    Trump and his allies have praised this detention center’s harshness and remoteness as befitting the “worst of the worst” and as a national model for the deterrence needed to persuade immigrants to “self-deport” from the United States.

    But among those locked inside the chain-link enclosures are people with no criminal records, and at least one teenage boy, attorneys told the AP.

    Concerns about medical care, lack of medicines

    Immigration attorney Katie Blankenship described a concerning lack of medical care at the facility, relaying an account from a 35-year-old Cuban client who told his wife that detainees go days without a shower. The toilets are in the same space as the bunkbeds and can’t handle their needs, she said.

    The wife, a 28-year-old green card holder and the mother of the couple’s 2-year-old daughter, who is a U.S. citizen, relayed his complaints to the AP. Fearing government retaliation against her and her detained husband, she asked not to be identified.

    “They have no way to bathe, no way to wash their mouths, the toilet overflows and the floor is flooded with pee and poop,” the woman told the AP. “They eat once a day and have two minutes to eat. The meals have worms,” she added.

    The woman said the detainees “all went on a hunger strike” on Thursday night to protest the conditions.

    “There are days when I don’t know anything about him until the evening,” she said, describing waiting for his calls, interrupted every three minutes by an announcement that the conversation is being recorded.

    No meetings with attorneys

    The detainees’ attorneys say their due process rights are among numerous constitutional protections being denied.

    Blankenship is among the lawyers who have been refused access. After traveling to the remote facility and waiting for hours to speak with her clients, including a 15-year-old Mexican boy with no criminal charges, she was turned away by a security guard who told her to wait for a phone call in 48 hours that would notify her when she could return.

    “I said, well, what’s the phone number that I can follow up with that? There is none,” Blankenship recalled. “You have due process obligations, and this is a violation of it.”

    Arroyo’s client, a 36-year-old Mexican man who came to the U.S. as a child, has been detained at the center since July 5 after being picked up for driving with a suspended license in Florida’s Orange County. He’s a beneficiary of the DACA program, created to protect young adults who were brought to the U.S. as children from deportation and to provide them with work authorization.

    Blankenship’s Cuban client paid a bond and was told he’d be freed on a criminal charge in Miami, only to be detained and transferred to the Everglades.

    Eig has been seeking the release of a client in his 50s with no criminal record and a stay of removal, meaning the government can’t legally deport him while he appeals. But she hasn’t been able to get a bond hearing. She’s heard that an immigration court inside the Krome Detention Center in Miami “may be hearing cases” from the Everglades facility, but as of Friday, they were still waiting.

    “Jurisdiction remains an issue,” Eig said, adding “the issue of who’s in charge over there is very concerning.”

    ___ Payne, who reported from Tallahassee, Fla., is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.

    Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

    Share this @internewscast.com
    FacebookXRedditPinterest
    You May Also Like
    ‘We’ll be back,’ says manager of Kerr County’s historic Hunt Store
    • Local news

    Manager of Historic Hunt Store in Kerr County Promises, ‘We’ll Return’

    KERR COUNTY, Texas () The manager of Kerr County’s historic Hunt Store…
    • Internewscast
    • July 12, 2025
    ICE officers doxed by Antifa in Portland, DHS says
    • Local news

    Antifa Accused of Exposing ICE Officers’ Personal Info in Portland, Reports DHS

    () Two Oregon-based organizations that the Department of Homeland Security says are reportedly…
    • Internewscast
    • July 11, 2025
    Looking for a job? An AI recruiter might interview you next
    • Local news

    AI Recruiters: The Future of Job Interviews

    Wafa Shafiq, a 26-year-old Canadian marketing professional and lifestyle influencer, has been…
    • Internewscast
    • July 11, 2025
    LIVE: Blue Angels roar through the sky at Pensacola Beach Air Show
    • Local news

    Live Coverage: Blue Angels Dazzle the Skies at Pensacola Beach Air Show

    PENSACOLA BEACH, Fla. (WKRG) — The Blue Angels have returned to their…
    • Internewscast
    • July 11, 2025
    Judge halts immigration raids in Southern California based on race or language
    • Local news

    Judge Stops Immigration Raids in Southern California That Target Specific Races or Languages

    LOS ANGELES — On Friday, a federal judge declared that immigration officers…
    • Internewscast
    • July 12, 2025
    US military ramps up drone warfare with Hegseth directive
    • Local news

    US Military Intensifies Drone Warfare Following Hegseth’s Orders

    WASHINGTON () Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth issued a new directive to…
    • Internewscast
    • July 11, 2025
    Brother, sister killed; parents injured in New Mexico flooding identified
    • Local news

    Siblings Die and Parents Hurt in New Mexico Flooding; Victims Identified

    EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) A brother and sister, who were killed in…
    • Internewscast
    • July 12, 2025
    Museum finds 70-million-year-old fossil under parking lot
    • Local news

    Fossil Dating Back 70 Million Years Discovered Beneath Museum Parking Lot

    DENVER (KDVR) – The Denver Museum of Nature and Science announced on…
    • Internewscast
    • July 12, 2025
    Georgia Tech transfer pitcher excited to join Illini
    • Local news

    Transfer Pitcher Thrilled to Join Illinois Team from Georgia Tech

    CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (WCIA) – Ryan Johnson is getting ready to move away…
    • Internewscast
    • July 12, 2025
    Dolton purchases Pope Leo XIV's childhood home
    • Local news

    Dolton Acquires Childhood Residence of Pope Leo XIV

    DOLTON, Ill. (WGN) – Dolton has closed on the purchase of Pope…
    • Internewscast
    • July 11, 2025
    Meet the Crew-11 astronauts headed to the space station
    • Local news

    Introducing the Astronauts of Crew-11: On Their Journey to the Space Station

    KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. – Four space travelers are preparing for departure…
    • Internewscast
    • July 11, 2025
    Here's the evidence Idaho prosecutors had against Bryan Kohberger
    • Local news

    New Idaho Documentary Explores Bryan Kohberger’s Plea: ‘Why Were These 4 Kids Chosen?’

    () A surprise guilty plea prevented the public from learning more about…
    • Internewscast
    • July 11, 2025
    Sabu has died: WWE star was 60
    • US

    David Gergen, who advised four different presidents, passes away at age 83

    Gergen worked in the administrations of Presidents Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Ronald…
    • Internewscast
    • July 12, 2025
    DOJ, FBI sitting on 'treasure trove' of Epstein information: Attorney
    • Local news

    Attorney Claims DOJ and FBI Are Withholding Valuable Epstein Information

    () Sigrid McCawley, an attorney representing people suing Jeffrey Epstein’s…
    • Internewscast
    • July 12, 2025
    A yacare caiman held by a person wearing black gloves.
    • US

    Surprise as 3ft Crocodile Seen Swimming in Reservoir at Popular Spanish Vacation Destination

    A MASSIVE 3ft crocodile that was spotted swimming in the water sparked…
    • Internewscast
    • July 12, 2025
    SJP investment boss warns US risk profile has 'fundamentally changed'
    • Business

    SJP Investment Leader Alerts to Significant Shift in US Risk Landscape

    St James’s Place has cut exposure to US stocks within its £16.4billion…
    • Internewscast
    • July 12, 2025
    Internewscast Journal
    • Home
    • Privacy Policy
    • DMCA Notice
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Guest Post
    • Support Our Cause
    Copyright 2023. All Right Reserverd.