July 16, 2025

Contact: info@haitianbridge.org, media@haitianbridge.org 

SAN DIEGO, CA – Haitian Bridge Alliance (HBA) condemns the operation of the Everglades immigration detention facility—derided as “Alligator Alcatraz”—and calls for its immediate shutdown due to gross human rights violations. The tent camp cost American taxpayers approximately $450 million per year —funded through FEMA reimbursements.

Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, after a cursory inspection, described the facility’s conditions as “disturbing, vile”. Rep. Maxwell Alejandro Frost likewise criticized the camp as a “cruel spectacle,” warning that the Trump administration and Florida officials were deploying government power to “kidnap, brutalize, starve, and harm every single immigrant they can.” 

Key findings from oversight tours and credible reporting include:

• Nearly 900–1,000 men, many with no criminal history  are confined in chain-link cages within hot, mosquito-chewed tents, with temperatures recorded up to 85 °F (29 °C).
• At least 250 individuals held are only accused of civil immigration violations, not criminal offenses 
• Terrible sanitation: no functioning toilets, infested food (worms/maggots), and flooding from human waste .
• Denied hygiene essentials—no showers, toothbrushes, or consistent access to water, medicine, or legal counsel.
• Lights are left on 24/7, further depriving detainees of basic dignity .
• The camp was built hastily with no environmental permits, causing irreversible damage to wetlands, wildlife habitats, and tribal lands.

Guerline Jozef, Executive Director, Haitian Bridge Alliance released the following statement: 

“What’s happening at the Everglades facility — what they call Alligator Alcatraz with a strong racist under one reminding us of a time when they used to use Black babies and children as alligator bait— is a flagrant violation of human rights and human dignity. No one, especially  vulnerable Black and Brown immigrants, should be caged in a swamp, hidden from the public eye, and subjected to inhumane conditions. The United States cannot claim to be a beacon of liberty while disappearing people into detention centers built like internment camps. We demand the immediate shutdown of this facility — The people being caged there deserve dignity and justice, not dehumanization.”

HBA Demands:

1. Immediate closure of Alligator Alcatraz due to documented inhumane conditions and violations of U.S. and international human rights standards.
2. Full congressional investigations into use of FEMA funds, state–federal coordination, and denial of oversight rights.
3. Transparent records regarding detainee treatment, legal status, health outcomes, and relocation plans.
4. Restoration efforts for the Everglades ecosystem and tribal land protections violated by the facility’s construction.

Haitian Bridge Alliance demands that the U.S. and Florida governments halt this modern form of internment and replace it with humane, legal, and accountable immigration processes.

ABOUT HAITIAN BRIDGE ALLIANCE

Haitian Bridge Alliance (HBA), also known as “The Bridge”, is a grassroots community organization that advocates for fair and humane immigration policies, foreign policy, and provides migrants and immigrants with humanitarian, legal, and social services, with a particular focus on Black migrants, the Haitian community, women and girls, LGBTQIA+ individuals, and survivors of torture and other human rights abuses. HBA also seeks to elevate the issues unique to Black migrants and builds solidarity and collective movement toward policy change. Anpil men chay pa lou (“Many hands make the load light”). Follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook: @haitianbridge