Surrounded by snakes and alligators in a swelteringly hot swamp, approximately
900 people have been crammed into a hastily-constructed camp of
plastic tents and metal cages in the middle of the Florida Everglades.
In only 8 days, authorities set up a camp that currently can hold around 3,000 humans - and with the intention of housing even more in the upcoming weeks and months.
While Trump and his cronies laugh about having created 'Alligator Alcatraz,' very real human beings have been shoved into facilities with
maggots in their sparse food, inconsistent air conditioning and
intense overheating, and so few showers, people have to
wake up at 3am to get the chance to bathe - or risk going
another week without cleaning themselves.
This is not how to treat human beings. The United States must shut down its 'Alligator Alcatraz' detention camp in the Florida Everglades, now! Sign the petition!The camp's tents house multiple cages in each one, with 32 humans locked in per cage. Each cage has 3 open-air toilet-sink combination units, in which the drinking water arises from a faucet on the back of the toilet's tank.
There is no privacy or shielding. To drink water,
you must first wait for one of the other 32 individuals to finish using the toilet. Even worse: many of the toilets won't flush, leading to
overflowing feces and water contamination.And that's just what we actually know. Because Florida and ICE have been trying to prevent lawmakers from really seeing the situation for what it is. First, they blocked members of Congress from touring the facilities at all.
Then, once lawmakers filed a lawsuit, authorities allowed them in - but only into the sections with no humans. Staff only allowed them into
currently empty areas that are awaiting more bodies to fill them.
Lawmakers weren't even allowed to see the so-called "medical" section at all.Immigrants who are being kept here often have no criminal record. They are not being allowed to see lawyers. And most of what we know about their experiences comes from brief phone calls with loved ones.
This is not justice. This is not humane. This is inconceivable and morally unjustifiable.
We the public must absolutely not sit quietly while this situation escalates. Already, the Trump administration has shown no regard for immigrants as human beings and is rejoicing in cruelty and terror instead.
We absolutely must speak up now, and not wait for this inhumanity to worsen. Sign the petition to demand the U.S. federal government and Florida governments shut down Alligator Alcatraz immediately!