Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem told CBS News that she wants to expand the brutal “Alligator Alcatraz” model of immigration detention across the country in the coming months, and is already considering sites in Arizona, Nebraska and Louisiana. Given what we know about the first site in Florida, that’s terrible news.
The first one was set up at a jetport in the Everglades in South Florida in July and is surrounded by 39 square miles of swampland. CBS News reports that the site was set up in just eight days.
The Trump administration has openly admitted that cruelty is the point.
The Hill reports that “the facility uses soft-side tents with chain-link fences to create cells that separate units of bunks” and that detainees have complained about “maggot-filled food, flooding floors, insects everywhere, and poorly functioning air conditioning.”
A former Alligator Alcatraz employee told NBC News that she saw tents holding hundreds of people spread across eight cages, and described the spaces in which they’re held as “an oversized kennel.” She said that during her stint the bathrooms were backed up from overuse, the mosquitos were relentless, and that water poured into tents on rainy days.
Civil rights lawyers have filed a lawsuit against the state and federal governments arguing that detainees’ constitutional rights are being violated because they are not allowed to access legal counsel and are being held without charges. A federal judge said federal and state officials have until Thursday to provide the legal agreements that grant them the authority to detain the people in the Everglades.
And on top of all that, Florida has reportedly removed public records related to the detention camp, making it even harder to understand what’s really happening there. The Trump administration has openly admitted that cruelty is the point. According to CBS, Noem said Alligator Alcatraz sends a “message” that, “if you are a violent criminal and you’re in this country illegally, there will be consequences” and that these kinds of “consequences” encourage people to go back “voluntarily.” But hundreds of detainees held there have no criminal charges or convictions, and civil rights lawyers say they’re being robbed of due process. In essence, the Trump administration appears to view degradation and mistreatment as a way to scare people into self-deporting or from entering the country illegally. It’s morally wrong. It’s a stain on a country that considers itself a civilized democracy. And, if Noem continues to expand this model, this administration’s regime of cruelty will only entrench itself further in the country.
Zeeshan Aleem is a writer and editor for MS NOW. Previously, he worked at Vox, HuffPost and Politico, and he has also been published in, among other places, The New York Times, The Atlantic, The Nation, and The Intercept. You can sign up for his free politics newsletter by clicking the link at the top of this bio.
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