‘Alligator Alcatraz’ Prisoners Say Their Living Conditions Are a Form of Torture

They report inadequate and maggot-infested food, inability to bathe, flooding, denial of religious practice, and more.

Officially known as Krome Detention Center, the 5,000-bed Department of Homeland Security (DHS) immigration detention facility located on the grounds of a rarely used municipal airport approximately 20 miles west of Miami last week began receiving people arrested during the Trump administration’s mass deportation campaign. While U.S. President Donald Trump and other proponents of the prison have sadistically joked about alligators eating escaping prisoners, the biggest dangers faced by detainees are found inside the facility’s walls.

“They’re not respecting our human rights,” one detainee told CBS News Miami during a phone interview. “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,” he added. “A lot of us have our residency documents and we don’t understand why we’re here.”

Another inmate, the Cuban reggaeton artist Leamsy La Figura, said guards “only brought a meal once a day and it had maggots.”

“They never take off the lights for 24 hours,” he claimed. “The mosquitoes are as big as elephants,” and “there’s no water to take a bath, it’s been four days since I’ve taken a bath.”

A Colombian detainee said his mental health is breaking down.

“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.”

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

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DHS officials have not yet responded to the detainees’ allegations.

On Monday, Florida state Sen. Carlos Guillermo Smith (D-17) confirmed that “several immigrants who aren’t facing any criminal charges” were nevertheless sent from the Orange County Jail in Orlando to Alligator Alcatraz.

This, after Democratic state lawmakers were denied entry to the facility last week. The Florida Division of Emergency Management claimed that “the legal authority cited by the legislators does not extend to this facility in the manner requested.”

“Florida statute grants inspection authority to a legislative committee, not to individual legislators engaging in political theater,” the agency added.

Meanwhile, Alligator Alcatraz merchandise offered at the Florida Republican Party’s online store has been “selling like hotcakes,” according to Evan Power, the state GOP chair.

Responding to this, Congressman Maxwell Alejandro Frost (D-Fla.) told The Guardian that “cruelty was always the point.”

“Selling hats and merchandise for a place that is about to become a hell on Earth for thousands of people who are going to be subjected to some of the worst conditions and human rights abuses you could think of is disgusting,” he added.