Alligator Alcatraz Detainees Detail Grim Conditions of Everglades Pokey: ‘Like Rats in an Experiment’
Leamsy Izquierdo, a Cuban reggaeton artist known as Leamsy La Figura, and others are speaking out about what they describe as the inhumane conditions of the Alligator Alcatraz migrant detention facility in the Everglades.
“We’ve been here at Alcatraz since Friday. There’s over 400 people here. There’s no water to take a bath, it’s been four days since I’ve taken a bath,” Izquierdo told Miami’s WFOR after being taken to the Alligator Alcatraz detention facility following an arrest for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and battery.
Officials have not provided a specific count of how many people are being held at the detention facility.
The incident involving Izquierdo occurred when a company was trying to repossess a jet ski. Katia Hernández, Izquierdo’s girlfriend, denied he attacked anyone and said he is a permanent resident, according to Telemundo 51.
Miami-Dade’s WFOR had Izquierdo’s girlfriend, with whom he shares a 4-year-old child, call him inside the facility and he and others alleged horrific conditions, including denials of medication and religious rights, as well as servings of maggot-infested food.
“They only brought a meal once a day and it had maggots. They never take off the lights for 24 hours. The mosquitoes are as big as elephants,” Izquierdo said.
Another unidentified detainee jumped on the phone to describe his own experience, saying, “We’re like rats in an experiment.”
“I don’t know their motive for doing this, if it’s a form of torture. A lot of us have our residency documents and we don’t understand why we’re here,” he said, adding that a Bible he had was taken away and he isn’t receiving his medication.
Officials have not responded to the specific allegations, but they have denied accusations of poor conditions at the migrant detention facility in the past.
Izquierdo was first held at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center (TGK) and after posting bail, officers were waiting to take him to the Everglades facility.
Watch above via WFOR.
