US President Donald Trump inaugurated the migrant detention center known as "Alligator Alcatraz," located at the former Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport in Ochopee, Florida, on July 1, 2025

Once again, Donald Trump is mocking the American justice system by using this tactic to overturn the order to close the prison he opened in the alligator-infested area of his Florida: Alcatraz Alligator, officially known as the Everglades Detention Center, which should be holding him there for carrying out crimes with impunity for which no other president has been prosecuted.

Alcatraz is just the latest experiment within a much larger system, as cruel as it is unnecessary, and it prolongs and profits from the suffering of immigrants and those seeking safety. And the experiment of states partnering with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in a case like this represents a new and dangerous direction.

No one should be locked up in immigration detention centers. Migration is not a crime. Under U.S. law, being undocumented is a civil matter, not a criminal act. The mass detention of immigrants for the sole purpose of processing their applications is arbitrary and violates international law.

Yet every day, people are torn from their families and communities, locked behind bars, and deprived of their rights. These people are not strangers. They are neighbors, coworkers, loved ones. Instead of being able to live in freedom, dignity, and security, it is despicable that this government is separating immigrants from their families and communities and locking them in cages.

My father—a Lebanese man born at the turn of the century—traveled from Lebanon to Egypt after the end of World War I in 1918, and subsequently to Greece, France, England, and the United States. He finally settled in Cuba in 1923, where he found the ideal place to live, with the exception that he retained his citizenship so that he wouldn't be forced to vote in the pseudo-republic.

But the detention of immigrants, already a stain on the history of human rights in the United States, has not only been observed in good times and bad, but under the Trump administration, this cruelty has reached new extremes.

THE TIP OF THE ICEBERG

The Alligator Alcatraz is part of this dangerous new anti-immigrant campaign: Florida diverted state disaster preparedness funds to build and operate this federal immigrant prison, hoping the federal government would reimburse them later. That's right: money meant to help communities prepare for and respond to hurricanes is being used to incarcerate people. Using disaster relief funds for incarceration is not only wrong, but also irresponsible and puts entire communities at risk.

These facilities are just one part of a much broader anti-immigrant agenda: ICE raids, the designation of local law enforcement agencies as immigration officials, racial discrimination, attacks on asylum seekers, deportations to third countries, and public attacks on immigrant organizers and protesters.

None of this has anything to do with making anyone safer. It’s about instilling fear. It’s about control—an example of the tactic Trump and his cronies use to employ state governments and taxpayer money to do ICE’s job. Other states, like Indiana and Nebraska, are looking to replicate this deeply flawed and cruel approach.

This sets a deeply troubling precedent. It blurs the lines of accountability and gives ICE even more unchecked power. People held in these state facilities often have no access to their families, lawyers, or even an immigration court to fight for their freedom. They are detained for the sheer cruelty of it. It’s that simple.

The administration is doubling down on its efforts to terrorize them in their communities and force them to live in fear. This increase in people incarcerated in immigration detention centers is part of a broader, calculated campaign to expand mass detention and dehumanize immigrant communities.

INACCURATE, BUT ALARMING

Trump has set out to deport one million immigrants in the first phase, and so far it’s estimated that 600,000 have already been forced to leave the country through various means, including imprisonment in countries with governments controlled by Washington.

The cruelty of the Trump administration is not limited to its policies but is also evident in its rhetoric. Giving detention centers names like " Alligator Alcatraz," "Speed Racetrack Jail," "Cornhuskers Jail," or "Deportation Warehouse" is cruel and dehumanizing.

Mocking human suffering and human rights violations normalizes abuse and denies humanity. These names and caricatures do not reflect the gravity of what’s happening. A human rights crisis should never be taken lightly or turned into a joke.

Human rights violations in immigration detention centers are well-known and widely documented, including by Amnesty International, which has often been prone to concealing the crimes of the Empire in the ever-smaller countries it attacks and invades.

Earlier this year, at an ICE facility in El Paso, violations came to light ranging from physical abuse by guards and denial of medical care to obstruction of access to legal assistance.

BACK TO ALCATRAZ

Immigrant detention centers, like the “Alcatraz of the Cayman,” are plagued by numerous problems, including:

Inhumane conditions: filthy and unsanitary environments, non-functioning toilets, limited access to showers, maggots in the food, and severe overcrowding.

Lack of medical care: people are systematically denied necessary medical treatment or their ailments are ignored.

Obstacles to accessing legal assistance: Many find themselves without access to lawyers, limiting their ability to challenge their detention or advance their immigration cases. Lawyers representing detainees argue that both state and federal authorities deny them adequate legal access, preventing them from effectively representing their clients.

Other abuses: These range from verbal and physical abuse by guards, to sexual and medical abuse, to the excessive use of solitary confinement, in addition to the psychological harm of being isolated, dehumanized, and abandoned. Furthermore, the lack of accountability is acknowledged even by The Miami Herald, which reports the whereabouts of thousands of detainees.

NOTHING TO DO WITH IT

The mass detention of immigrants in the United States is unjustifiable. It’s rooted in racism, based on false narratives, and sustained through fear.

Detaining people based solely on their immigration status is arbitrary and violates international human rights law. The system disproportionately discriminates against Black and Latino immigrants and perpetuates white supremacist ideologies disguised as policies.

Regardless of what you hear from the Trump administration, this has nothing to do with public safety.

Translated by Amilkal Labañino / CubaSí Translation Staff