"Built in just eight days in the Everglades wetlands, the facility was intended to hold up to 5,000 federal immigration detainees. In July, around 1,800 people were confined there in groups of thirty-two inside disaster-relief tents, where conditions reportedly swung between extreme cold and heat, with sewage hauled out and drinking water brought in. Speaking to the Associated Press, migrant detainees and their lawyers described worm-infested food, swarms of mosquitoes, windowless cells, flooded floors with fecal waste, and insufficient showers and toilets."
"The centre faced lawsuits from the American Civil Liberties Union and others citing due-process violations. Environmental groups and the Miccosukee Tribe also challenged the site, arguing no environmental review was conducted before it was built. In her late-August ruling on the latter case, US district judge Kathleen M. Williams ruled that detainees must be relocated within sixty days, barred new transfers, and ordered much of the facility dismantled."
"Among the companies contracted to provide services for Alligator Alcatraz are IRG Global Emergency Management-a US offshoot of ARS Global Emergency Management, a Toronto-based company also known as Access Restoration Services Ltd-and a US-based business unit of Quebec-based security operator GardaWorld. IRG Global Emergency Management was incorporated only this past February, yet it has received a total of $25.8 million (US) from the state of Florida so far this year."
Alligator Alcatraz was built in eight days in the Everglades to hold up to 5,000 immigration detainees but held about 1,800. Detainees were confined in thirty-two-person disaster-relief tents with reported extremes of temperature, worm-infested food, swarms of mosquitoes, windowless cells, flooded floors with fecal waste, and insufficient showers and toilets. The centre faced lawsuits alleging due-process violations and environmental challenges from groups and the Miccosukee Tribe. US district judge Kathleen M. Williams ordered detainee relocation within sixty days and much of the facility dismantled, but an appeals court stayed that order. Contractors include IRG Global Emergency Management and a GardaWorld unit; IRG received $25.8 million from Florida this year.
Read at The Walrus
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