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
    Travis Decker remains identified, Washington authorities say
    • Local news

    Washington Authorities Confirm Identification of Travis Decker

    IE 11 is not supported. For an optimal experience visit our site…
    • Internewscast
    • September 26, 2025
    India retires MiG-21 fighters after six decades as air force stretches to improve fleet
    • Local news

    India Retires MiG-21 Fighter Jets After 60 Years, Aims to Upgrade Air Fleet

    NEW DELHI – India has retired its last fleet of Soviet-era MiG-21…
    • Internewscast
    • September 26, 2025
    House Democrat introduces articles of impeachment against RFK Jr.
    • Local news

    Democratic Representative Files Impeachment Charges Against RFK Jr.

    Rep. Haley Stevens (D-Mich.) announced on Thursday her intention to file articles…
    • Internewscast
    • September 25, 2025
    Trump says U.S. will impose new tariffs on heavy trucks, drugs and kitchen cabinets
    • Local news

    Trump Announces New Tariffs on Semi-Trucks, Pharmaceuticals, and Kitchen Cabinets

    President Donald Trump on Thursday revealed a fresh set of severe tariffs,…
    • Internewscast
    • September 26, 2025
    Thune says a shutdown can still be avoided if Democrats 'dial back' their demands
    • Local news

    Thune claims a shutdown is still preventable if Democrats reduce their demands

    WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Majority Leader John Thune is dismissing the Democratic…
    • Internewscast
    • September 26, 2025
    Trump talks Putin, Gaza and the ICE facility shooting at meeting with Erdogan
    • Local news

    Trump Discusses Putin, Gaza, and ICE Facility Shooting During Meeting with Erdogan

    IE 11 is not supported. For an optimal experience visit our site…
    • Internewscast
    • September 25, 2025
    Humberto becomes a hurricane; development chances increase for system in Atlantic: NHC
    • Local news

    Hurricane Humberto Forms; Likelihood of Development Grows for Atlantic System: NHC

    Humberto has now been classified as a hurricane, and the likelihood of…
    • Internewscast
    • September 26, 2025
    School bus driver arrested, Edgefield County School District confirms
    • Local news

    Edgefield County School District Confirms Arrest of School Bus Driver

    EDGEFIELD COUNTY, S.C. () – Recently, the Edgefield County School District announced…
    • Internewscast
    • September 26, 2025
    Ex-FBI Director James Comey indicted: 5 things to know
    • Local news

    5 Key Facts About the Indictment of Former FBI Director James Comey

    Former FBI Director James Comey faced two federal charges late Thursday, following…
    • Internewscast
    • September 26, 2025
    Adella Bird wins WCIA 3 Athlete of the Week
    • Local news

    Adella Bird Secures Athlete of the Week Honors from WCIA 3

    MAHOMET, Ill. (WCIA) — Mahomet-Seymour’s Adella Bird has seen big growth on…
    • Internewscast
    • September 26, 2025
    Protests continue at Illinois ICE processing center
    • Local news

    Ongoing Demonstrations at Illinois ICE Processing Facility

    Protesters once again assembled on Friday at an ICE processing center in…
    • Internewscast
    • September 26, 2025
    Man who stopped brutal beating at concert explains why he intervened
    • Local news

    Heroic Concertgoer Shares His Reason for Stopping a Violent Attack

    KANSAS CITY, Mo. The individual who intervened in a brutal attack on…
    • Internewscast
    • September 26, 2025
    World leaders face dire challenges at UN summit
    • US

    United Nations Expands West Bank Blacklist, Adding 68 Companies in 2025

    The list now contains 158 companies — the vast majority Israeli, that…
    • Internewscast
    • September 26, 2025
    Joe Rogan weighs in on Kimmel's suspension
    • World News

    Joe Rogan Warns Trump Over Criticizing Jimmy Kimmel, Praises Kimmel’s Charlie Kirk Joke

    Joe Rogan has stepped in to support Jimmy Kimmel amidst the controversy…
    • Internewscast
    • September 26, 2025
    Rita Ora lights up a cigarette outside her hotel after the Prada show
    • News

    Rita Ora Enjoys a Smoke Break Outside Hotel Following Prada Event

    Rita Ora was seen smoking a cigarette outside her lavish hotel as she…
    • Internewscast
    • September 26, 2025
    Random blue city stabbing death fuels new bail bill as ‘activists’ ripped for lack of crime crackdown: expert
    • US

    A recent random stabbing death in a major city prompts new bail legislation, while ‘activists’ face criticism for not addressing crime, according to experts.

    In the wake of the stabbing death of Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska…
    • Internewscast
    • September 26, 2025
    Internewscast Journal
    • Home
    • Privacy Policy
    • DMCA Notice
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Guest Post
    • Support Our Cause
    Copyright 2023. All Right Reserverd.