{"id":195882,"date":"2025-10-01T23:40:07","date_gmt":"2025-10-01T23:40:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/195882\/"},"modified":"2025-10-01T23:40:07","modified_gmt":"2025-10-01T23:40:07","slug":"what-its-like-inside-alligator-alcatraz-in-the-florida-everglades","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/195882\/","title":{"rendered":"What it’s like inside ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ in the Florida Everglades"},"content":{"rendered":"

Detainees arriving at the immigration detention center in the Florida Everglades known as \u201c Alligator Alcatraz<\/a> \u201d are given color-coded uniforms and wrist-bands, then segregated based on their criminal history and whether they\u2019re considered a flight risk, according to a handbook given to detainees.<\/p>\n

The handbook presents strict rules on hygiene and dress, portraying an environment inside the remote detention center that starkly contrasts with the deplorable conditions detainees described shortly after it opened in July. The handbook was made public as part of a lawsuit over whether detainees have proper access to attorneys.<\/p>\n

The court case is one of three lawsuits filed by environmental and civil rights groups over conditions at the detention center, which was built this summer by the state of Florida and operated by private contractors and state agencies. <\/p>\n

A federal judge in Miami ordered in August<\/a> that the facility must wind down operations within two months, agreeing with environmental groups that the remote airstrip site wasn\u2019t given a proper environmental review before it was converted into an immigration detention center. But operations continued after the judge\u2019s preliminary injunction was put on hold<\/a> in early September by an appellate court panel.<\/p>\n

President Donald Trump toured the facility in July and suggested it could be a model<\/a> for future lockups nationwide as his administration pushes to expand the infrastructure needed to increase deportations.<\/p>\n

Civil rights groups on Monday asked a federal judge in Fort Myers for an injunction that would stop the facility from holding detainees. They argued that the federal law doesn\u2019t allow state agencies or private contractors to carry out immigration detention since that\u2019s a function of the Department of Homeland Security alone, and that the facility was set up \u201coutside the normal channels for immigration detention, without regard for multiple limits and safeguards in federal law.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n AP AUDIO: Inside \u2018Alligator Alcatraz,\u2019 where detainees\u2019 uniform color is based on criminal history\n <\/p>\n

The AP\u2019s Lisa Dwyer reports on a color-coding system at Florida detention center.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a result, the facility is beset by a host of previously unthinkable problems,\u201d they said in a motion for a preliminary injunction. \u201cPhysical conditions are atrocious.\u201d<\/p>\n

But the handbook submitted last week by the state of Florida in the separate legal-access lawsuit suggests that detainees are warned that guards would enforce strict rules on dress, hygiene and behavior. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Your browser does not support the iframe HTML tag. Try viewing this in a modern browser like Chrome, Safari, Firefox or Internet Explorer 9 or later.<\/p>\n

Detainees must watch an orientation video upon arrival. They are allowed only to keep prayer books, glasses, dentures, wedding rings and small personal religious items like a rosary, and they wear sandals with their uniform. They\u2019re given soap, shampoo, deodorant, toothpaste and a toothbrush, as well as sheets, a blanket, mattress and towel. Among items considered contraband are recording devices, like cameras and cell phones, and identity documents such as passports and birth certificates, since Immigration and Customs Enforcement may use the documents as evidence, according to the handbook. <\/p>\n

Detainees\u2019 uniform shirts can never be removed in housing units or recreational areas, and they can\u2019t place their hands in the waistband of their pants regardless of weather conditions, or they face discipline, according to the handbook. <\/p>\n

During regular head counts, detainees aren\u2019t allowed to move or talk. If they do, they can be punished, along with everyone in their dorm, with being locked in their housing unit. Breakfasts start at 5:30 a.m. Meals are served in a dining hall where food is forbidden from being removed. Detainees who are segregated from the general population are served in their cells.<\/p>\n

Barbering services are available, and detainees are expected to bathe regularly and keep their hair clean. \u201cPersonal hygiene is essential,\u201d the handbook said. However, detainees reported in July<\/a> that toilets sometimes don\u2019t flush, flooding floors with fecal waste, and detainees go days without showering. <\/p>\n

The facility has a law library, and detainees can spend up to five hours a week there. <\/p>\n

In a separate court filing, an official with a private contractor overseeing how detainees can access lawyers disputed the arguments of civil rights groups that detainees aren\u2019t getting confidential access for attorney-client communications that should be protected. Every detainee request for an attorney meeting, either in person or via videoconference, has been granted, said Mark Saunders of The Nakamoto Group.<\/p>\n

The handbook also informs detainees that the facility has zero tolerance for sexual assault or abuse and has hired a full-time investigator trained in sexual assault investigations. While saying sexual assault is never the victim\u2019s fault, the handbook also lists ways detainees can avoid it, such as not accepting gifts or favors from others and by appearing confident.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany attackers choose victims who look like they won\u2019t fight back or who they think is emotionally weak,\u201d the handbook said. <\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Follow Mike Schneider on the social platform Bluesky: @mikeysid.bsky.social<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Detainees arriving at the immigration detention center in the Florida Everglades known as \u201c Alligator Alcatraz \u201d are…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":195883,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[51],"tags":[1147,17984,2302,12,2822,2808,62263,793,3075,44498,790,3130,2221,113496,23294,2825,3766,79,2818,795,201],"class_list":{"0":"post-195882","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-animals","9":"tag-civil-rights","10":"tag-courts","11":"tag-donald-trump","12":"tag-fl-state-wire","13":"tag-florida","14":"tag-fort-myers","15":"tag-general-news","16":"tag-human-rights","17":"tag-immigrant-detention","18":"tag-immigration","19":"tag-lawsuits","20":"tag-legal-proceedings","21":"tag-mark-saunders","22":"tag-mike-schneider","23":"tag-prisons","24":"tag-race-and-ethnicity","25":"tag-science","26":"tag-sexual-assault","27":"tag-u-s-news","28":"tag-wildlife"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195882","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=195882"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195882\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/195883"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=195882"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=195882"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=195882"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}