A new report released Thursday by Amnesty International details what it describes as a "deliberate system built to punish, dehumanize, and hide the suffering" of immigrants in Florida, with documented human rights violations at two major detention centers that, in some cases, "amount to torture."
The report, "Torture and enforced disappearances in the Sunshine State: Human rights violations at 'Alligator Alcatraz' and Krome in Florida," comes from an Amnesty International investigation of the state-run Everglades Detention Facility, known as "Alligator Alcatraz," and the Krome North Service Processing Center.
"These findings confirm a deliberate system built to punish, dehumanize, and hide the suffering of people in detention," said Ana Piquer, Amnesty International's Regional Director for the Americas, in a statement accompanying the report. "Immigration enforcement cannot operate outside the rule of law or exempt itself from human rights standards. What we are seeing in Florida should alarm the entire region."
State and federal officials have dismissed similar claims made from immigrant advocates and others in lawsuits alleging mistreatment of immigrant detainees and other alleged human right violations at Krome and Alligator Alcatraz.
"Nearly every single day, my office responds to media questions on FALSE allegations about Alligator Alcatraz. The media is clearly desperate for these allegations of inhumane conditions at this facility to be true," said U.S. Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin in a statement in late August.
"Here are the facts: Alligator Alcatraz does meet federal detention standards," she said.
DHS and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials did not immediately to respond to a WLRN request for comment..
'Alligator Alcatraz': A State-Run Human Rights Disaster
The investigation found that conditions at "Alligator Alcatraz" in a remote area of the Everglades are profoundly inhuman and unsanitary. Detainees reported constant illumination, lack of privacy (including cameras above toilets), exposure to insects, and serious sanitation failures, including "overflowing toilets with fecal matter seeping into where people are sleeping."
Among the most serious allegations were punitive measures, including the use of "the box," described as a "2x2 foot cage-like structure people are put in as punishment — sometimes for hours at a time exposed to the elements with hardly any water — with their hands and feet attached to restraints on the ground."
READ MORE: Judge pushes for resolution in lawsuit over legal access at 'Alligator Alcatraz'
Amnesty International also found that the facility is operated "without the basic tracking systems used in ICE facilities," and keeps detainees in incommunicado detention, which the Amnesty International says "constitutes enforced disappearances" when a person's whereabouts are denied to family or legal counsel.
"These despicable and nauseating conditions at Alligator Alcatraz reflect a pattern of deliberate neglect designed to dehumanize and punish those detained there," said Amy Fischer, Director of Refugee and Migrant Rights with Amnesty International USA. "This is unreal — where's the oversight?"
Krome: Overcrowding and Medical Neglect
At the Krome facility, Amnesty International investigators corroborated previous reports of overcrowding, prolonged and arbitrary solitary confinement, and critical failures in medical care. Detained individuals reported serious medical negligence despite medical facilities being on-site.
Amnesty International staff report witnessing violence firsthand, observing a guard "violently slam a metal flap of a door to a solitary confinement room against a man's injured hand." Detainees also reported being hit and punched by guards and facing immense difficulty in accessing legal counsel.
"Krome's extreme overcrowding, medical neglect, and reports of humiliating and degrading treatment paint a picture of harrowing human right violations," Fischer added.
Prioritizing Punishment Over Public Welfare
The Amnesty International report comes at a time when Florida has intensified its policies toward undocumented immigrants and scaled up detentions under Gov. Ron DeSantis. Florida has increased the number of people in immigrant detention by more than 50% since the beginning of this year. The expansion includes more than $360 million in no-bid contracts issued for "Alligator Alcatraz" alone, which Amnesty notes comes "all while cutting billions from essential health, food security, emergency response, and housing programs."
The crisis is also underscored by the death rate in Florida's facilities; of the at least 24 people who have died in ICE custody since October 2024 nationwide, six deaths occurred in Florida, including four at Krome.
Amnesty International is calling Florida officials to "close Alligator Alcatraz and to prohibit the use of any state-run immigration detention." It is demanding the Trump administration "end its cruel mass immigration detention machine" and ensure compliance with international human rights standards.
"The conditions we documented at Alligator Alcatraz and Krome are not isolated – instead they represent a deliberate system of cruelty designed to punish people seeking to build a new life in the U.S.," said Fischer.
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