Florida officials deny accusations of inhumane conditions at Alligator Alcatraz

https://www.cbsnews.com/miami/news/alligator-alcatraz-detainees-allege-inhumane-conditions-at-immigration-detention-center/

Cuban reggaeton artist Leamsy La Figura, arrested last week in Miami-Dade on assault charges, was transferred to South Florida’s new immigration detention facility known as Alligator Alcatraz in the Everglades, the singer confirmed in a phone call.

He and other detainees claim they are enduring inhumane conditions at the site, including lack of access to water, inadequate food and denial of religious rights.

Alligator Alcatraz was built in a matter of days on a rarely used municipal airport located about 50 miles west of the City of Miami. The first group of detainees arrived at the center on July 3, according to state Attorney General James Uthmeier.

La Figura, whose real name is Leamsy Isquierdo, was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and battery. He was initially held at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center (TGK) before being transferred to Alligator Alcatraz.

“There’s no water to take a bath”

In a phone call from inside the facility, La Figura described what he called horrific conditions.

“I am Leamsy La Figura. We’ve been here at Alcatraz since Friday. There’s over 400 people here. There’s no water to take a bath, it’s been four days since I’ve taken a bath,” he said.

He claimed the food at the immigration facility is scarce and unsanitary.

“They only brought a meal once a day and it had maggots. They never take off the lights for 24 hours. The mosquitoes are as big as elephants,” La Figura said.

Detainees say rights are being violated

Other detainees echoed La Figura’s concerns, alleging violations of their basic rights.

“They’re not respecting our human rights,” one man said during the same call. “We’re human beings; we’re not dogs. We’re like rats in an experiment.”

“I don’t know their motive for doing this, if it’s a form of torture. A lot of us have our residency documents and we don’t understand why we’re here,” he added.

A third detainee, who said he is Colombian, described deteriorating mental health and lack of access to necessary medical care.

“I’m on the edge of losing my mind. I’ve gone three days without taking my medicine,” he said. “It’s impossible to sleep with this white light that’s on all day.”

He also claimed his Bible was confiscated.

“They took the Bible I had and they said here there is no right to religion. And my Bible is the one thing that keeps my faith, and now I’m losing my faith,” he said.

La Figura’s girlfriend said the couple shares a 4-year-old daughter.

Florida officials respond to inhumane conditions allegations

On Tuesday, state officials responded to the allegations made by detainees at the facility, saying they are “completely false.”

“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, director of communications for the Florida Division of Emergency Management.

FDEM was the engine behind Alligator Alcatraz, using the state’s emergency management tools and funding to build, staff and operate the detention facility.

The detention has faced intense criticism over human rights, environmental impact, oversight and the legality of commandeering protected Everglades land.

Clay Jones, Open Windows

A big, beautiful bill for a big, ugly police state by Ann Telnaes

If passed, ICE would get $45 billion more for detention. Read on Substack

(I love Ann Telnaes’s depiction of Sec. Noem. Flawless caricature-the hair! And the rest. -A.)

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DEI Cavalier by Clay Jones

The wrong prez got forced out Read on Substack

With its thuggery, bullying, and Nazi-like tactics, Donald Trump’s racist and weaponized Justice Department, led by the corrupt Pam “Eva Braun” Bondi, has forced out the University of Virginia’s president, James Ryan.

Ryan, who had a reputation for trying to make the UVA campus more diverse, was forced out to resolve a justice department investigation into UVA’s diversity, equity, and inclusion policies.

Ryan said, “I cannot make a unilateral decision to fight the federal government in order to save my own job. To do so would not only be quixotic but appear selfish and self-centered to the hundreds of employees who would lose their jobs, the researchers who would lose their funding, and the hundreds of students who could lose financial aid or have their visas withheld. This was an excruciatingly difficult decision, and I am heartbroken to be leaving this way.”

DOJ had demanded that Ryan step down as part of an agreement to settle a civil rights investigation into the school’s diversity practices, as Trump has weaponized the government agency by using its investigative powers to implement his hateful political agenda. DOJ held the university hostage to force Ryan out. (snip-MORE)

Alligator Alcatraz by Clay Jones

Mmmmmm, MAGAts. Read on Substack

(I saw “Alligator Auschwitz” somewhere over the weekend, not in conjunction with DeS bragging about the camp’s showers, but brrr, and I’ll never think of this prison as anything but Alligator Auschwitz now. -A.)

In case it seems cruel to put undocumented immigrants, and in several cases, documented immigrants, that’s the point. Cruelty is the point with this regime and the entire MAGA agenda.

Alligator Alcatraz is the name for a detention, processing, and deportation camp for undocumented migrants in the Florida Everglades.

White House spokesbarbie Karoline Leavitt said, “The only way out is a one-way flight. It is isolated and surrounded by dangerous wildlife and unforgiving terrain. When you have illegal murderers and rapists and heinous criminals in a detention facility surrounded by alligators, yes, I do think that’s a deterrent for them to try to escape.” My first question for her is, where are all these legal murderers?

The regime loves the optics of a prison in the middle of a brutal swamp. It sounds like a bad Burt Reynolds movie (as if there were any good ones).

Border czar, Tom Homan, told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, “Can’t wait for it to open, and we’ll put aliens in there as soon as we can.” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis described the facility as a “one-stop shop” in a Fox interview. Trump has the most horrible people on this.

The “prison” sits along an 11,000-foot runway at an airfield mainly used for training flights, and will soon house 5,000 migrants in a tent city. This sounds as evil as the tent prison racist and corrupt Trump-pardoned sheriff Joe Arpaio erected in the Arizona desert.

Trump is visiting the site today, thinking it’ll make him look tough. Captain Bonespurs isn’t tough. The regime is mistaking being an asshole for being tough.

The Florida GOP is already selling “Alligator Alcatraz” merch, and they had to be fast to beat the Trump Organization to it. The legacy of this may match the internment camps where the US government housed Japanese Americans during World War II. Trump is also planning a new camp in Guantanamo, and I’m sure DeSantis and Noem are eyeing other sites that provide great potential for tough-guy photo-ops. If nothing else, they’re thinking of the merch.

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