COLLIER COUNTY, Fla. – Just days after lawmakers toured “Alligator Alcatraz” for the first time, Local 10 News is working to uncover who exactly is being detained at the facility.
The federal government said only the worst of the worst would be held at the migrant detention center, but new information suggests that’s not true.
On Monday, more portable air conditioners were seen being brought to the facility, possibly signs of the promised expansion.
Saman Gonzalez is one of several immigration attorneys whose clients were picked up and brought there who does not fit the profile of criminal deportable alien.
“He is married to a United States citizen and he has no crimes, never been arrested,” she said.
Lawmakers who were given a tour on Saturday were told what Gov. Ron DeSantis and U.S. President Donald Trump have insisted, that the worst criminals would be held there as they went through the process of deportation.
“What we were told is all the individuals that are there were fully adjudicated detainees and ready for deportation at this moment,” said Florida Rep. Mike Caruso, a R-Palm Beach County.
Gonzalez’s client, who is now being held in the Everglades detention facility, requested asylum when he arrived a few years ago, and is in that process.
“I would imagine, clearly, there would be some type of plan in place for this to happen,” she said. “Now they’ll put themselves and the detention center in a situation where they are violating rights of those who need to have access to an attorney.”
The email address given to attorneys to schedule access with their clients came back as rejected.
