An Alligator Alcatraz worker is blowing the whistle on “inhumane” conditions at the notorious immigrant detention facility in South Florida after working there for less than a month.
Speaking to NBC6, Lindsey, a corrections officer, said that she only wanted to give her first name out of fear of retribution against her or her family.
She confirmed she arrived at the facility on July 6 and was there for about a week before she caught COVID and was forced to isolate.
Lindsey’s comments come just 24 hours after Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA) announced that they “identified 510 credible reports of human rights abuse” against immigration detainees.
In response to questions about the report, DHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs, Tricia McLaughlin, said in an email to NBC, “Any claim that there are subprime conditions at ICE detention centers are false.”
DHS bragged on X that they are hard at work attacking “fake news” and announced that they “have the backs of the brave men and women of @ICEgov, who risk their lives every day protecting our homeland.”
But Lindsey said that her experience was different.
“When I got there, it was overwhelming,” she told NBC6. “I thought it would get better. But it just never did.”
She said that she knew going into it that the team would be living in a trailer, but the report described the conditions as “harsh” for the corrections officers as well as the detainees.
“We had to use the porta-johns. We didn’t have hot water half the time. Our bathrooms were backed up,” she said.
“The bathrooms are backed up because you got so many people using them,” she added.
Her story confirms the account from detainees and their family members that DHS has also denied.
When it comes to where the detainees are held, Lindsey called it “an oversized kennel.”
The large cages hold 35 to 38 inmates. There are about eight cages per tent.
“They have no sunlight. There’s no clock in there. They don’t even know what time of the day it is. They have no access to showers. They shower every other day or every four days,” Lindsey continued.
There were reports of flooding at the facility on the day that President Donald Trump toured the tents. Lindsey said that it has continued and each time it rains water floods into the tents.
Lindsey noted that despite Trump’s promise only to deport criminals, there are a number of people there who are not criminals.
“These people are still human. They pulled them from their livelihood. They’re scared. They don’t speak our language,” she said.
When Lindsey got COVID, the facility accused her of trying to falsify medical paperwork, and she was fired. She denies their accusations.
“I was fired. And yeah, I’m pissed off. But more so than ever, like they’re doing wrong,” she said.
Detainees complained last month that there was a lack of food, and when they were provided something to eat, there were worms in it, the Associated Press reported in July. That report also cited the overflowing sewage, which was discounted by spokesperson Stephanie Hartman of the Florida Division of Emergency Management.
“The reporting on the conditions in the facility is completely false. The facility meets all required standards and is in good working order,” she claimed.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Trump want to see the facility as the model for others.
