COLLIER COUNTY, Fla. — A coalition of public health experts, immigration advocates and family members of detainees are calling for the closure of Alligator Alcatraz, a controversial migrant detention site in Collier County that has been operating since July 1.
On Tuesday, a packed crowd gathered outside the gates of the facility, chanting, “shut it down, shut it down,” and alleging that migrants are being held in abusive conditions that violate basic human rights. They referred to it as a "concentration camp".
WATCH AS PROTESTERS GATHER OUTSIDE THE FRONT GATES AT ALLIGATOR ALCATRAZ:
“This place is a cage, it’s for dogs, and they don’t deserve to be here no matter what — they’re humans,” said Sonia Bishara, whose 63-year-old husband, Rafael, was transferred from Miami to the site. She said he is being deprived of clean living spaces and medical care.
“He’s telling me that the officers are treating him badly, cursing and telling them to go back to where they came from,” she said.
Another woman, speaking through a translator, said her son was taken to the facility after a traffic stop and has not received adequate treatment for an infection following surgery. “The only medicine he’s been given inside this concentration camp is an aspirin,” she said in Spanish.
Governor Ron DeSantis has rejected allegations of mistreatment, calling them a “false narrative.” At a news conference Friday in Marco Island, he said detainees are given an option to return home.
“If somebody’s here illegally, and DHS sends them to Alligator Alcatraz when they get processed, the first thing that happens is they are offered an all‑expense‑paid trip back to their home country,” DeSantis said. “You never have to go to Alligator Alcatraz as an illegal alien," he said.
Families of detainees dispute that claim, while medical professionals warn the facility poses serious health risks amid Collier County’s worst salt marsh mosquito surge in nearly a decade.
“These mosquito-borne illnesses are death sentences for individuals with chronic diseases,” said Dr. Armen Henderson. “This is not right. As a medical professional, I am concerned — people in my profession are concerned," he added.
Fox 4 has reached out to Florida Emergency Management for access to the facility but has not yet received a response.
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