OCHOPEE, Fla. — Statements from Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz and reports from advocates have intensified scrutiny over conditions inside the Everglades detention center, where detainees are allegedly subjected to overcrowding, lack of privacy and physical mistreatment.
The facility, informally referred to as “Alligator Alcatraz,” has become a central site in immigration detention, holding thousands of individuals. According to Wasserman Schultz, who conducted an unannounced visit, detainees are housed in what she described as “cages,” stating she was “not being provocative or inflammatory” because “it’s simply what they are.”
She reported seeing approximately 1,500 individuals held in those conditions, in areas that “smelled like urine,” where detainees “appear to have no option but to go to the bathroom in front of everyone.”
Wasserman Schultz further described the facility as a “monument to cruelty,” stating that it is “a vile, disgusting place that you would never want anyone you care about to spend five minutes in.”
Those statements reflect concerns regarding both the physical environment and the overall treatment of detainees within the site.
Reports from advocates and legal representatives describe additional incidents of alleged mistreatment. Following a federal court order requiring detainees to be given access to “timely, confidential, unmonitored, unrecorded outgoing legal calls,” it was reported that “guards cut off the phone entirely without warning or explanation.”
According to reporting, after the phones were cut off, “the beatings began.”
One detainee was reportedly “dragged out of his cell and severely beaten,” resulting in a “black eye” and injuries to his shoulder and arm. Reports also state that another detainee had his wrist broken, while individuals in the same area were “pepper-sprayed,” and one older detainee “lost consciousness.”
Those incidents were later presented in court as part of ongoing legal claims regarding conditions inside the facility.
Concerns have also been raised regarding disciplinary practices at the facility. In a letter from U.S. senators, detainees placed in a punishment area referred to as “the box” were described as being held “in direct sunlight,” exposed to “high temperatures” and “high humidity,” while restrained in a way that “prohibit[s] any movement.”
One individual reportedly remained there “for hours, with no water.”
The facility has also faced legal challenges related to its construction and location. Members of the Miccosukee Tribe have argued that the project was approved without proper consultation or environmental review, stating that the Everglades “is meant for our tribes” and “it’s not meant to detain life.”
A federal judge previously ordered the facility closed, though it was later reopened following an appeals court decision.
Advocates monitoring the situation report that conditions inside the facility may fluctuate over time. Immigration activist Thomas Kennedy stated that “it goes in waves,” noting that while conditions appeared “more calm at the beginning of the year,” recent reports have described worsening treatment.
Additional observations from advocates and officials further highlight comparisons between facilities and ongoing concerns. According to Kennedy, individuals detained at the Everglades site have expressed a preference for transfer elsewhere, stating that despite “multiple civil rights and human rights complaints” at another Florida facility, “people in ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ still say, ‘I want to get sent to Krome.’”
Kennedy, who remains in contact with families of detainees, noted that he is part of a group chat with “mothers and wives” of those detained, where concerns about conditions and treatment are frequently shared and discussed.
Wasserman Schultz also commented on the broader purpose of the facility, stating that its location and conditions may be intended to deter individuals, suggesting authorities “want to make it so awful people self-deport.”
As legal challenges and public attention continue, conditions inside the Everglades detention center remain under ongoing scrutiny.
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