Detainees at ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ facing ‘harrowing human right violations’, new report alleges; The Guardian, December 4, 2025

Richard Luscombe, The Guardian; Detainees at ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ facing ‘harrowing human right violations’, new report alleges

"Detainees at the notorious Florida immigration jail known as “Alligator Alcatraz” were shackled inside a 2ft high metal cage and left outside without water for up to a day at a time, a shocking report published on Thursday by Amnesty International alleges.

The human rights group said migrants held at the state-run Everglades facility, and at Miami’s Krome immigration processing center operated by a private company on behalf of the Trump administration, continue to be exposed to “cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment” rising in some cases to torture.

The cage, known to detainees as “the box”, is used by guards for the arbitrary punishment of trivial or non-existent offenses, according to the report compiled from interviews with detainees and advocacy groups, and a site visit to Krome made by Amnesty workers in September."

Torture and Enforced Disappearances in the Sunshine State: Human Rights Violations at “Alligator Alcatraz” and Krome in Florida; Amnesty International, December 4, 2025

Amnesty International; Torture and Enforced Disappearances in the Sunshine State: Human Rights Violations at “Alligator Alcatraz” and Krome in Florida

"This report presents Amnesty International’s findings from a research trip to southern Florida in September 2025 to document:

• Human rights impacts of federal and state migration and asylum policies on mass detention and deportation
• Access to due process and
• Detention conditions since President Trump took office on January 20, 2025.

In particular, it focuses on detention conditions at the Krome North Service Processing Center (Krome) and the Everglades Detention Facility, also known as “Alligator Alcatraz.”

Krome is an ICE detention facility located in Miami-Dade County on the edge of the Everglades. In 2025, the facility has faced heightened scrutiny after reports of severe overcrowding and several deaths. Amnesty International documented delays in intake procedures, overcrowding in temporary processing areas, inadequate and inaccessible medical care, alarming disciplinary practices including the use of prolonged solitary confinement, and challenges in access to legal representation and due process at Krome.

“Alligator Alcatraz” opened in July 2025 with the capacity to detain around 3,000 people. Amnesty International’s research concludes that people arbitrarily detained in “Alligator Alcatraz” are being held in inhuman and unsanitary conditions, including overflowing toilets with fecal matter seeping into where people are sleeping, limited access to showers, exposure to insects without protective measures, lights on 24 hours a day, poor quality food and water, and lack of privacy.

Amnesty International considers that detention conditions at both facilities amount to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. The use of prolonged solitary confinement at Krome and the use of the ‘box’ at “Alligator Alcatraz” amount to torture or other ill-treatment.

Amnesty International calls on the Government of the United States to:

• End its cruel mass immigration detention and deportation machine
• Stop the criminalization of migration
• Bar the use of state-owned facilities for immigration custody detention
• Ensure thorough investigations into all deaths, abuses, and allegations of torture in custody, and
• Comply with international human rights law and standards."

Judge’s reopening of ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ raises ethical concerns; Prism, September 29, 2025

Alexandra Martinez, Prism; Judge’s reopening of ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ raises ethical concerns

"A U.S. appeals court ruled on Sept. 4 to keep Florida’s controversial “Alligator Alcatraz” detention center operating while an appeal plays out, after a district court ruling to shut down the facility. The judge who authored the 2-1 majority opinion was 11th Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Barbara Lagoa. 

Some immigrant rights advocates and local leaders argue that Lagoa’s role in overseeing the case, filed in part against Florida’s government, raises ethical concerns. Lagoa is married to attorney Paul Huck, a partner at Lawson Huck Gonzalez, one of Florida’s most politically connected conservative law firms. The firm is earning millions of dollars from contracts tied to the state’s other legal battles. The firm is not involved in the “Alligator Alcatraz” lawsuit."

Jacksonville man files trademark for name ‘Alligator Alcatraz,’ says it’s a way to fight against ‘hate merch’; News4Jax, July 18, 2025

Khalil Maycock , News4Jax; Jacksonville man files trademark for name ‘Alligator Alcatraz,’ says it’s a way to fight against ‘hate merch’

"A Jacksonville man filed a trademark Class 28 for the name “Alligator Alcatraz.”

A Class 28 trademark means, if approved, Eric Battle would have the rights to that name for games, toys and novelty items.

This comes after Battle said he felt helpless when he saw the controversial immigration detention center, dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz,” opened at an isolated airstrip in the Florida Everglades earlier this month.

State and federal officials have touted the detention center on social media and conservative airwaves, sharing a meme of a compound ringed with barbed wire and “guarded” by alligators wearing hats labeled “ICE” for Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The Republican Party of Florida has taken to fundraising off the detention center, selling branded T-shirts and beer koozies emblazoned with the facility’s name."

Trump celebrates harsh conditions for detainees on visit to ‘Alligator Alcatraz’; The Guardian, July 1, 2025

Richard Luscombe , The Guardian; Trump celebrates harsh conditions for detainees on visit to ‘Alligator Alcatraz’

"Trump made no effort to challenge that narrative as he spoke to reporters before leaving Washington DC to travel to Florida, laughing as he made zigzag motions with his hands while offering advice to anybody thinking of escaping.

“The snakes are fast, but alligators [are faster],” he said.

“We’re going to teach them how to run away from an alligator. Don’t run in a straight line, look, like this, and you know what? Your chances go up about 1%. Not a good thing.”

At a press conference following the tour, Trump was equally dismissive of concerns about conditions in the Everglades, where the daily heat index in July regularly exceeds 100F (37.8C).

“It might be as good as the real Alcatraz. A little controversial, but I couldn’t care less,” he said."