USA: SHUT DOWN “ALLIGATOR ALCATRAZ” 

Dear Governor DeSantis,

I am writing to demand that you shut down the Everglades Detention Center, also known as “Alligator Alcatraz”, which was recently opened in Florida and is currently housing hundreds of migrants and asylum seekers.

I am concerned about reports of conditions at “Alligator Alcatraz” being appalling. Within weeks of its opening, there are already significant reports of unsanitary conditions, lack of medical care, people stuffed into cages with minimal access to bathrooms, poor water quality, and minimal access to lawyers.

Immigration detention is cruel, unnecessary, and rife with abuses. This facility’s intentional cruelty is meant to criminalize and strike fear in immigrant communities. The facility is also located within the Everglades, a fragile ecosystem and one of the state’s most ecologically sensitive areas. I am concerned about the impact of pollution, water quality, and efforts to restore the Everglades and protected endangered species.

“Alligator Alcatraz” is a human rights disaster. You must take immediate action to close this facility and ensure that the individuals detained inside are released back into their communities where they can navigate their immigration cases supported by lawyers and outside of detention. You must also end Florida’s laws that criminalize its immigrant residents and end its participation in President Trump’s mass incarceration and deportation machine.

The Everglades Detention Center is inhumane, irresponsible, and life-threatening. I urge you to shut it down immediately and ensure that Florida is not complicit in these abuses.

Yours sincerely,

[YOUR NAME]