Mexico’s foreign minister says nearly 200 Mexican nationals have been held at "Alligator Alcatraz," the south Florida immigration detention center quickly built over the summer, and that some have reported mistreatment.
Mexican foreign minister Juan Ramón de la Fuente told reporters Friday that Mexican consulates in the United States interviewed 198 Mexican citizens who have spent time at the center.
“They have reported mistreatment, and all of that is being recorded [by consulates],” de la Fuente said.
Miami-based immigration lawyer Alex Solomiany has represented several clients who have been held at the facility. He says clients tell him conditions inside are worse than other immigration detention centers because of its quick construction.
“People are pretty much living under fabricated tents, there’s not much privacy, there’s not much access to their legal counsel,” Solomiany said. “Some of them complain about the mosquitos, some of them complain about the lights being on the whole time or not having too much access to showers and things like that.”
Solomiany says some of his clients who have passed through the facility don’t have a criminal record.
“Alligator Alcatraz was built under a promise of being a facility where they were going to put the worst of the worst,” Solomiany said. “I haven’t seen that, because my clients are not the worst of the worst.”
The detention facility has faced multiple lawsuits, both from those arguing that detainees have been mistreated, as well as environmental advocates who say the construction of the facility harmed the environment.
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