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Violence and Retaliation Alleged at Florida’s Notorious “Alligator Alcatraz” Detention Camp
New allegations out of Florida’s Everglades are raising urgent questions about human rights inside a state-run immigration detention center critics have dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz.” According to a sworn court declaration from attorney Katherine Blankenship, guards at the remote facility violently assaulted migrant detainees earlier this month after they complained about being cut off from phone access.
The phones are not a luxury. For people locked inside immigration detention, they are often the only lifeline to loved ones and legal counsel. When that access was abruptly shut down, detainees protested. What allegedly followed was not dialogue or de-escalation, but brutality.
Beatings, Pepper Spray, and Retaliation
In her declaration, Blankenship describes how guards began taunting detainees inside a holding cell before escalating the encounter. She said officers grew increasingly aggressive, shouting threats about entering the cage where the men were confined.
One detainee approached a guard and was immediately punched in the face, the filing states. Guards then reportedly stormed the cell, beating multiple people. Blankenship says one of her clients was struck in the eye, thrown to the ground, and assaulted by several officers. He was kicked in the head and suffered injuries to his shoulder and arm. At one point, a guard allegedly pressed his knee into the man’s neck while restraining him — a chilling detail that echoes other widely condemned acts of excessive force.
Another detained person, who is not Blankenship’s client, reportedly suffered a broken wrist during the incident.
“The officers beat several people during this incident and broke another detained individual’s wrist,” Blankenship wrote in her court filing.
A photograph taken during a video call nearly a week after the alleged beating shows one detainee with a visibly bruised eye, according to the filing.
Phone service was restored the following day, though officials have provided no public explanation for why it was cut off in the first place.
Legal Battle Over Basic Rights
The allegations come amid an ongoing legal fight over detainees’ constitutional rights. Blankenship’s declaration was submitted as part of a broader lawsuit arguing that state and federal officials have failed to comply with a federal court order mandating meaningful access to lawyers.
Last month, U.S. District Judge Sheri Polster Chappell issued a preliminary injunction requiring the facility to provide timely, free, confidential, and unmonitored phone calls between detainees and their attorneys. The order specified that there must be at least one functioning telephone for every 25 people detained.
The lawsuit contends that limiting phone access violates detainees’ First Amendment rights — a cornerstone of democratic accountability and due process. Without the ability to confidentially consult attorneys, immigrants facing detention and possible deportation are left to navigate a complex legal system alone.
State officials have rejected claims that they are restricting access to counsel, attributing disruptions to security and staffing challenges. Federal officials, who are also named in the lawsuit, have denied that constitutional rights were violated. Florida authorities have already signaled plans to appeal the judge’s ruling.
A Facility Plagued by Controversy
Since opening last year, the Everglades detention center has drawn lawsuits and scrutiny from civil rights advocates. Constructed under Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration, the facility was billed as part of a broader push to support former President Donald Trump’s aggressive mass detention and deportation agenda. A second immigration detention center was also built in northern Florida.
Advocates say the rapid expansion of detention infrastructure has put civil liberties and basic human dignity at risk.
During a recent visit to the facility, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida said she was denied the opportunity to speak directly with detainees. After touring the center, she described the conditions as “inhumane” and “cruel,” condemning the way individuals are being housed.
“The way the detainees are housed is cruel and unnecessary,” Wasserman Schultz said.
For immigrant rights advocates, the reported beatings are not an isolated incident but part of a larger pattern of dehumanization within a detention system that operates with limited transparency and oversight. As legal challenges move forward, the central question remains whether those held in immigration custody — many of whom have not been accused of violent crimes — will be afforded the basic constitutional protections and human dignity that define a just society.
In a nation that claims liberty and justice for all, the treatment of the most vulnerable behind locked gates is a test of our democratic values.
