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'Nothing Short of Torture': Critics Decry Abuse Affirmed by DHS Alligator Alcatraz Probe
"DHS needs to be dismantled and held accountable for this complete inhumanity," said Rep. Pramila Jayapal.
Sep 14, 2026
While US President Donald Trump publicly joked about giant reptiles devouring would-be escapees from the now-shuttered Alligator Alcatraz immigrant detention center in the Florida Everglades, a newly published report by the Department of Homeland Security's internal watchdog confirms that the biggest dangers facing detainees at the notorious lockup were found inside its walls.
The DHS Office of Inspector General (OIG) found that staff at Alligator Alcatraz—officially called the Florida Soft-Sided Facility (FSSF)—"complied with intake and use-of-force standards but did not comply with standards related to environmental health and safety, special management units, medical care, food service, personal hygiene, and recreation."
Affirming reports from human rights groups like Amnesty International, the OIG reported on September 11 that staff at the facility, which was operated by the state of Florida and private contractors, "confined 79 detainees in small metal enclosures—each offering about 18 square feet of floor space—for periods ranging from several minutes to nearly two hours."
"Facility staff described the small metal enclosures as 'calming areas' for detainees to de-escalate and have time alone," the report states. "Staff further maintained that detainees asked to spend time in the small metal enclosures. We found at least one instance in which the small metal enclosures may have been used as a disciplinary tool."
NEW: DHS's Inspector General releases a scathing report about the Everglades detention camp known as "Alligator Alcatraz." The OIG finds that the now-closed camp, violated multiple ICE standards.The OIG also confirms detainees were punished with placement in a metal cage in the Florida heat.🧵
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— Aaron Reichlin-Melnick (@reichlinmelnick.bsky.social) September 14, 2026 at 8:53 AM
While held in the cages, detainees—who reported being shackled and locked to the ground—were subjected to dangerously high temperatures and swarms of mosquitoes. Amnesty described the use of the cages as a form of torture.
"Use of these small metal enclosures for any reason is unprecedented among detention facilities OIG has inspected and presents significant risks to detainee health and safety," the DHS report notes.
Responding to the report's findings, Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) said on social media that "this is nothing short of torture."
"DHS needs to be dismantled and held accountable for this complete inhumanity," she added.
The OIG report additionally found that "FSSF did not provide detainees with sufficient living space, creating cramped conditions for detainees who spent most of their time in their housing units, which may harm detainees’ physical and mental health."
According to the OIG, detainees had about 28 square feet of living space each when the facility was at maximum capacity, well below the 75-square-foot DHS benchmark.
Three-quarters of the detainees interviewed by the OIG said they did not have access to clean drinking water.
The OIG also found that detainees were generally permitted to shower just three times a week, and inspectors noted insects in the showers.
Detainee recreation was also limited to three one-hour sessions per week.
The OIG report ominously concludes that "although FSSF ceased operations in June 2026, the issues raised by the department’s
management response regarding [US Immigration and Customs Enforcement's] level of oversight and responsibility for immigration detention remain consequential."
The publication cites the Baker Correctional Institution—also known as "Deportation Depot"—in Sanderson, Florida, which has yet to undergo OIG inspection, and where detainees and their advocates have reported abuses and inhumane conditions similar to those alleged at Alligator Alcatraz.
Some critics of the new OIG report denounced what they said were critical omissions and falsehoods, including that FSSF complied with use-of-force standards. Clients of attorney Katherine Blankenship and other detainees at the facility said they were beaten—and one man had his wrist fractured—after complaining about not having phone access earlier this year.
The Associated Press reported in April:
When one detainee approached a guard, he was punched in the face. The guards then started beating other detainees in the cell. One of Blankenship’s clients was punched in the right eye, thrown to the floor, and beaten by several guards. He was kicked in the head and his shoulder and arm were injured. A guard put his knee on the detainee’s neck while restraining him, according to the attorney’s declaration, which included a photo made during a video call almost a week later showing the detainee with a bruised eye.
Other alleged abuses and inhumane conditions at Alligator Alcatraz not mentioned in the OIG report include rotten and maggot-infested food, 24-hour lighting, flooding, and denial of religious practice.
Some detainees also claimed they were held in the phone booth-sized cages for far longer than two hours.
“People ended up in the ‘box’ just for asking the guards for anything," one former detainee told Amnesty. "I saw a guy who was put in it for an entire day."
Glad folks are appalled by photos of the "phone booth" cage under an awning, but pls understand: This IG report is likely part of a cover-up. Amnesty Int'l interviewed detainees EIGHT MONTHS AGO who said the cage was half this size (couldn't stand up), had no awning, w feet chained to the bottom.
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— Gillian Brockell (@gillianbrockell.com) September 14, 2026 at 9:20 AM
Responding to the new OIG report, Congressman Adam Smith (D-Wash.) said Monday on social media that "people at Florida's Alligator Alcatraz were subjected to inhumane, unjust punishment, risking their health and safety while in federal detention. No person should be locked into an 18-square-foot cage, period."
Last year, Jayapal and Smith introduced the Dignity for Detained Immigrants Act, which Jayapal's office described as "legislation to enact guardrails and oversight on immigration detention, and to ensure civil and human rights are protected."
Since Trump returned to the White House in January 2025, more than 50 people have died in ICE custody, including detainees who died inside lockups, during transfers, and in hospitals while still under DHS control. The agency also announced earlier this year that it would stop reporting the deaths of people recently released from ICE detention.
Krish O'Mara Vignarajah, President and CEO of the advocacy group Global Refuge, said in a statement responding to the new OIG report that "there is no euphemism that can sanitize caging human beings. Calling a metal box a 'calming area' is an affront to the English language and to human dignity alike."
"The stark reality is that human beings, many of whom came to this country seeking protection, were crammed into spaces unfit to accommodate them, denied adequate medical care, food, and basic hygiene—and in at least one case locked in a cage as punishment," Vignarajah continued. "That is not immigration enforcement. It is cruelty, carried out in our name and on our dime, to the tune of more than a million dollars a day."
"The facility is closed, but the mindset that built it lives on," she added. "We cannot let Alligator Alcatraz become a blueprint. We call on Congress and the Department of Homeland Security to guarantee that no one held in the United States—regardless of where they were born or how they arrived—is subjected to conditions this administration's own watchdog has deemed inhumane."
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'The Fight Has Just Begun': Angie Nixon Delivers Shocking Upset Win in Florida
“I don’t care about corporations’ bottom lines. I care about people."
Aug 19, 2026
In a surprise upset described variously as "stunning" and "a shocker" in headlines, State Rep. Angie Nixon won the Democratic primary for the open US Senate seat in Florida on Tuesday, defeating Lt. Col. Alex Vindman, the former national security official who many presumed would sail to victory with the support of the party establishment and a massive cash advantage.
Nixon, a former union organizer and a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, will now face Sen. Ashley Moody, whom Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed to the seat after former Sen. Marco Rubio became Secretary of State, in the general election.
In her victory speech, Nixon said the win "showed the world what organized people can accomplish," and vowed to continue her surprise run by defeating Moody, the heavy favorite in a state dominated by Republicans over recent years, in the general election.
“I don’t know about you but I was taught to love my neighbors… They call me extreme but these things are not radical. They are not extreme… So Ashley Moody can call us whatever she wants. But in November she will call me Senator.”
— Progressive Angie Nixon, after pulling off a… pic.twitter.com/kXIq15uCMA
— Drop Site (@DropSiteNews) August 19, 2026
Outspent by Vindman by an estimated 13-to-1 advantage—raising just $975,000 overall compared to the more than $16 million he had on hand—Nixon was credited with channeling growing voter frustration with the Democratic Party elites who have failed to deliver for working people.
In a Monday night campaign interview on the eve of the election, Nixon told CNN that too many corporate establishment Democrats are standing in the way of real progress on key issues like healthcare as families struggle with an exploding cost of living.
“I don’t care about corporations’ bottom lines," Nixon said. "I care about people."
Angie Nixon said Democratic leaders Hakeem Jeffries and Chuck Schumer should face scrutiny as too many “corporate-established Democrats” are beholden to companies rather than ordinary people. “I don’t care about corporations’ bottom lines; I care about people,” Nixon said.… pic.twitter.com/K9jfShul7g
— Drop Site (@DropSiteNews) August 19, 2026
Prominent national progressives championed Nixon's win.
"Democratic Socialist State Representative Angie Nixon, outspent more than 16 to 1, pulled off a HUGE upset to win the Democratic nomination for the US Senate in Florida," said Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). "Congratulations, Angie!"
"Tonight Floridians sent a strong message that they need real progressive leadership to lower costs and protect our rights," declared Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.). "Congratulations on your primary victory, Angie Nixon; let's keep up the momentum and send her to Washington in November!"
Noting her strong support for Palestinian rights, the advocacy group Jewish Voice for Peace Action heralded the importance of Nixon's willingness to speak out against US complicity in Israeli abuses when too many in the Democratic Party have remained silent.
“The people are rising up against the political establishment that has failed them," said Stefanie Fox, the group's executive director. "The time is now for candidates like Nixon who champion working people and fight relentlessly to defend the rights of all people from Florida to Palestine."
Ken Martin, chair of the Democratic National Committee, also celebrated Nixon's win.
“As an accomplished state representative and union organizer, Angie Nixon has dedicated herself to fighting for working families," said Martin. "AngiFloridians have chosen a proven leader with the experience and vision to lower costs, expand access to healthcare, make childcare and housing more affordable, fight for workers, protect public education, and deliver results for families across the Sunshine State. The DNC is ready to help elect Angie and work together to flip this seat, win the Senate majority, and deliver for all Floridians.”
While the celebrations poured in, Florida remains a deeply red state, and Nixon faces an incredibly tough uphill climb to defeat Moody in November.
In a social media post Tuesday night, Nixon told supporters: "We did it ya'll. Thank you to every person that put their heart into this campaign."
But "get ready," she added, "the fight has just begun."
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While Actively Trying to Deny Millions This Right, Trump Again Votes by Mail
"The hypocrisy is the point," said Rep. Ayanna Pressley.
Aug 18, 2026
President Donald Trump has pushed to strip millions of Americans of the right to vote by mail. But he doesn't seem to think these restrictions should apply to him.
The White House confirmed to The New York Times that the president voted by mail ahead of Florida's Republican primary on Tuesday, marking at least the third time he has done so since becoming president. He also voted by mail in a state legislative special election earlier this year and in the 2020 Republican primary.
Though Trump has repeatedly characterized mail-in voting itself as a form of "cheating" and pushed to abolish it for most Americans under his proposed SAVE America Act, White House spokesperson Olivia Wales said it was a "non-story" that he chose to participate in the practice himself.
"The SAVE America Act has commonsense exceptions for Americans to use mail-in ballots for illness, disability, military, or travel— but universal mail-in voting should not be allowed because it’s highly susceptible to fraud," she said. "As everyone knows, the president is a resident of Palm Beach and participates in Florida elections, but he obviously primarily lives at the White House in Washington, DC."
Florida notably does not distinguish between absentee and other forms of mail-in voting, allowing residents to cast votes without an excuse—so the system Trump used to vote by mail is the same one he wants to make illegal.
Failing to pass his SAVE America Act through Congress, Trump has attempted to restrict mail-in voting via executive order.
An order he signed in March required states to hand over lists of eligible voters to the federal government and said that the US Postal Service could block residents of states from voting by mail if they refused to comply. The order also directed the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to create state "citizenship lists" to be sent to election officials.
This order has been blocked in federal court, and Trump has pushed for the Supreme Court to allow it to go into effect before the November 3 midterm election. Voting rights advocates have warned that if the order goes into effect, many eligible voters will be wrongly excluded because their names don't appear on DHS's federal lists.
There is scarce evidence that any form of mail-in balloting is susceptible to fraud anywhere near the levels that would be necessary to swing the result of an election.
An analysis by the Brookings Institution last year, which examined data from the right-wing Heritage Foundation's election fraud database, found that for every 10 million mail ballots cast, about four ballots were associated with voting fraud, though the database is not exhaustive.
It's not clear why voting by mail for convenience would be any more "susceptible to fraud" than doing so for illness, disability, military, or travel, as the White House claims.
In fact, the Brookings study found that states with universal no-excuse mail-in voting have the lowest rates of mail-in fraud, and some states, like Washington, have seen reductions in fraud after transitioning to universal mail-in voting.
Advocates for universal mail-in balloting have emphasized that it makes voting easier and more accessible than when it's restricted to election days at physical polling places. They also say restricting it is especially harmful to voters from racial minority groups who face greater barriers to in-person voting and are more likely to have absentee ballot applications rejected.
Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) rejected the idea that the right of other Americans to vote by mail was any less legitimate than Trump's right to do so.
"Trump just voted by mail AGAIN while trying to take away the right for millions of people to do the same," Pressley wrote in a social media post. "The hypocrisy is the point. We won't let Republicans attack the sacred right to vote, including by mail."
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‘Breaking Federal Law. Just Like Daddy Trump’: Republican Randy Fine Caught Rifling Through Voter’s Mailbox
"Randy Fine is a menace to basic human decency," said one critic.
Aug 18, 2026
US Rep. Randy Fine, who has become notorious for his bigoted remarks against Muslims throughout his political career, was caught on camera Sunday rifling through the mailbox of a Florida voter.
A video that went viral on social media Monday shows Fine (R-Fla.) ringing the doorbell of a resident in Florida's 6th Congressional District, where he was canvassing for votes ahead of Tuesday's Florida congressional primary.
After the resident does not answer the door, Fine is seen opening up their mailbox and flipping through its contents for a few seconds.
Randy Fine just got caught committing a felony on camera. Your congressman just tried going through your mailboxes. That is a federal crime. I am calling on Randy Fine’s immediate removal from Congress & for an investigation to be opened. pic.twitter.com/UnyGquiS1S
— DannyKPolitics (@DannyKPolitics) August 18, 2026
Fine's office confirmed to TMZ on Tuesday that the Florida Republican, who was endorsed by President Donald Trump over the weekend, is the man seen in the video.
According to an article published by Legal Overview in May, opening another person's mailbox and touching their mail could run afoul of 18 USC § 1702 and result in felony charges for obstruction of correspondence.
Fine's potentially illegal actions drew ridicule from Rep. Mark Pocan (R-Wisc.), who observed in a Tuesday social media post that MAGA politicians seemingly can't stop committing crimes.
"Watch my 'colleague' Randy Fine break the law by going through someone’s mail," write Pocan. "MAGA movement’s newest hero is breaking federal law. Just like Daddy Trump. Time to throw these bums out in November!"
Former Democratic Florida US House candidate Barbie Harden Hall also mocked Fine.
"Why are you looking through someone’s mailbox while you’re out canvassing?" she asked. "Not only is it wrong, it’s creepy as fuck. Randy Fine is a menace to basic human decency."
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Hegseth, Eric Trump Dismiss Safety Concerns as Navy Reviews Low Flyover at Florida Beach
"The flyovers will continue until morale improves," said the defense secretary.
Jul 16, 2026
A day after Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth shared with the public his fixation on service members' levels of testosterone, the president's son mocked those who were alarmed by the US military's latest apparent display of might directed at Americans, mocking what he called the "low-T mainstream media."
Saying the stunned responses of many who saw a jet fly low over a crowded beach in Pensacola, Florida were simply "manufactured outrage," Eric Trump said the maneuver was "undoubtedly the highlight of these people’s day."
Trump's comments came as officials with the US Navy's elite Blue Angels said they were conducting a "thorough safety review" to determine whether the flyover violated the squadron's and the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) strict standards.
Online videos showed people gathered on the beach Wednesday morning for a "Breakfast with the Blues" flight demonstration event.
A jet flew close to the crowd, directly over the heads of the onlookers, overturning some chairs and umbrellas. A child was heard crying in one video posted by a local news outlet.
Dramatic video shows the U.S. Navy Blue Angels making a low-altitude flyover above Pensacola Beach, Florida, on Wednesday. Navy officials confirmed in a statement that Blue Angels leadership is "reviewing the circumstances surrounding the maneuver and conducting a thorough safety… pic.twitter.com/ZUa1ryk4X8
— ABC News (@ABC) July 15, 2026
In the "low-altitude pass," Blue Angels officials said, the aircraft "flew lower than standard profiles, resulting in a disturbance on the beach that affected civilian chairs and umbrellas."
"The safety of our hometown community, spectators, and our pilots is our highest priority," the statement continued. "Team leadership is reviewing the circumstances surrounding the maneuver and conducting a thorough safety review to ensure all operations adhere to strict Navy and FAA safety standards."
Hegseth struck a decidedly different tone than the flight demonstration squadron, which is known for its precision and strict safety protocols.
"The flyovers will continue until morale improves," said the defense secretary in a reference to a well-known, sardonic slogan.
Writer JP Hill called Hegseth's response to the flyover "fucking insane" and expressed hope that a result of the Trump administration would be "a realization that this brand of masculinity that's just an emotionally frozen 12-year-old in an adult body is stupid as shit."
Meanwhile, the White House posted on X an illustration that appeared to equate approval of the stunt with patriotism and freedom, writing, "It's okay to love America" above the image.
The maneuver in Florida came months after a live-fire weapons demonstration by the US Marines over Interstate 5 in California, during which a malfunction caused an artillery shell to explode prematurely and send shrapnel over the highway where traffic was flowing.
Writer and podcaster Noah Kulwin wrote that the two recent maneuvers combined "leads me to believe: American military will accidentally cause a civilian mass casualty incident in the continental US before Trump’s term is out."
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'There Must Be Independent Investigations,' House Democrats Argue After ICE Killings in Maine and Texas
"Trump's DHS has lost the trust of the American people and can no longer be considered a reliable source of fact."
Jul 15, 2026
Nearly all Democrats in the US House of Representatives on Wednesday demanded independent investigations into federal immigration agents' recent fatal shootings of Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero in Biddeford, Maine, and Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Houston, Texas.
The men killed—immigrants from Colombia and Mexico—apparently weren't even the targets of the operations that claimed their lives earlier this month, Democrats stressed in their letter to the leaders at the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and its agency Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
"Both of these incidents have created enormous fear and outrage in the community, and raise serious questions about the safety of community members, regardless of immigration status," the nearly 200 members of Congress wrote to DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin and ICE acting Director David Venturella.
The letter was led by Democrats from both states, Congresswomen Chellie Pingree (Maine) and Sylvia Garcia (Texas), as well as ranking members on key House panels: Reps. Bennie Thompson (Miss.) of the Committee on Homeland Security, Jamie Raskin (Md.) of the Judiciary Committee, and Pramila Jayapal (Wash.) of the Subcommittee on Immigration, Integrity, Security, and Enforcement.
"DHS agents have shot at least 22 people just since the start of President Donald Trump's second term. Six of these shootings have been fatal, resulting in the death of US citizens and individuals with no criminal records," wrote the lawmakers—who have also drawn attention to the dozens of immigrants who have died at ICE detention centers under this administration.
"In several of these cases, DHS and its component agencies made unsubstantiated allegations about individuals its agents have shot and even killed, including Renée Good, Alex Pretti, Ruben Ray Martinez, Marimar Martinez, and Julio Sosa-Celis," they highlighted. "DHS claimed that the shooting victims were attacking law enforcement officers, attempting to 'weaponize' their vehicles, and even called them domestic terrorists."
The Democrats emphasized that "in each case, evidence later emerged that contradicted these claims, showing that DHS representatives made false statements and DHS agents acted inappropriately, resulting in several cases against DHS's victims to be dismissed with prejudice. As such, Trump's DHS has lost the trust of the American people and can no longer be considered a reliable source of fact."
"We are calling for immediate independent investigations into both of these deaths, without interference. We are also calling on ICE to stop any removal proceedings against the witnesses to Mr. Salgado Araujo's killing for the duration of the investigation," they wrote, pointing to reported attempts by the administration to deport his brother, Victor Hugo Salgado Araujo, as well as two employees, Jose Trinidad Rojas Pliego and Daniel Tirado Pantoja.
Those three witnesses to the killing in Texas "should have no threat of retaliation or deportation to provide their testimony," the lawmakers argued. "Similarly, DHS must not interfere with any investigations into the death of Mr. Guerrero. Far too many people, Americans and noncitizens alike, are dead as a result of DHS's reckless actions."
The House Democrats aren't alone in their demand. The Fair Immigration Reform Movement, faith leaders, and labor advocates held a Wednesday press conference to call for "independent investigations and real accountability" after the deaths in Texas and Maine, as well as Florida.
The 28-year-old man who officials say died Tuesday after being hit by a tractor-trailer while fleeing federal immigration agents at a gas station in St. Augustine has not yet been publicly identified, but like the other two cases, he had been in a vehicle. Despite the rising death toll, Trump said Wednesday that he wants ICE to keep pulling over cars.
"No one can be guaranteed safety from this rogue agency, which has terrorized our community since long before the current administration, but is now capturing and even widening a net of Americans in their ruthless execution of the mass deportation agenda," said Lizeth Chacon, executive director of Workers Defense Action Fund, one of the groups demanding an independent probe.
"To end this brutal campaign for good, we must abolish ICE and offer a pathway to citizenship for all," Chacon declared. "The officers responsible for the killing of Mr. Lorenzo must be held accountable. We can and must dismantle this agency because ICE's next victim could be any of us. Mr. Lorenzo could be any of us."
Rev. Jodi Hayashida, an organizer from Multifaith Justice Maine, said Wednesday that "the most important fact about ICE is that it is simply the latest vehicle in this nation's long-standing practice of racialized state-sanctioned violence and terror, that this paramilitary force accountable to nearly no one and funded by billions of dollars pulled from our housing and healthcare does not provide the safety or security it promises. It is a threat to the well-being of all people."
"We know that death is an inevitable consequence of the existence of ICE, modifications to practices and policies are not enough," Hayashida added. "In the very short term ICE must not be allowed to investigate itself. We demand a full, transparent accounting of every single death, and then we demand that Congress stop funding this violence and remove ICE from our communities altogether."
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'Ruinous Venture' Alligator Alcatraz Closes, But Systemic Abuse of Immigrants Continues
"The fact that this site ever existed is a travesty, given the cruelty behind it, horrific conditions, and blatant violations of due process," said the deputy director of the ACLU's National Prison Project.
Jun 25, 2026
While welcoming Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' confirmation on Thursday that the immigrant detention center dubbed "Alligator Alcatraz" has closed, rights advocates also renewed criticism of how immigrants are being treated across the country as President Donald Trump continues his deadly push for mass detention and deportations.
The facility in the Everglades opened last summer despite concerns about both human rights and the environmental impact. DeSantis said Thursday that "Florida led the way in increasing much-needed detention capacity and working with our federal partners to streamline deportations, removing thousands of the most dangerous criminal aliens from our country."
Despite claims from the president and his allies, federal data have shown that most immigrants detained during his second term lack criminal convictions. In addition to flooding US streets with agents from Customs and Border Protection as well as Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Trump has repeatedly demanded that Congress give CBP and ICE more funding.
"Our detention operations support has led to nearly 30,000 additional deportations, and Florida accounts for more than 40% of all state/local immigration arrests nationwide," DeSantis added Thursday. "Alligator Alcatraz has fulfilled this mission. Detainees who are still awaiting deportation have been transferred to other federal facilities, and demobilization efforts are underway."
Responding to the governor on social media, Thomas Kennedy of the Florida Immigrant Coalition said: "You wasted more than $1 billion of Florida's emergency response fund on a failed PR stunt that hurt people and destroyed families. You should never be anywhere near public office again."
As The Associated Press noted Thursday:
Immigration advocates said the center’s tents were never safe or humane for holding people. Detainees at the facility have talked about their difficulty accessing lawyers and described poor physical conditions, including worms in the food, toilets that didn't flush, floors flooded with fecal waste, and mosquitoes and other insects everywhere.
They described large white tents with rows of and rows of bunk beds surrounded by chain-link cages. The air conditioning could shut off abruptly in the sweltering Florida heat. Detainees could go days without showering or getting prescription medicine.
The state and national ACLU as well as Americans for Immigrant Justice (AIJ) had sued over the facility last year.
"The fact that this site ever existed is a travesty, given the cruelty behind it, horrific conditions, and blatant violations of due process. We challenged the Trump administration and the state of Florida over the facility, and now celebrate its closure," Carmen Iguina González, deputy director for immigration detention with the ACLU's National Prison Project, said Thursday.
Keisha Mulfort, deputy executive director and strategy officer of the ACLU of Florida, declared that "with its official closure, 'Alligator Alcatraz' seals its reputation as a ruinous venture. This detention center stands as a monument to what happens when a state government abandons its conscience in service of a federal cruelty agenda."
"The DeSantis administration deliberately built a detention facility in the middle of the Everglades—not despite the harsh conditions, but because of them—and spent over $1 billion of Florida taxpayers' money to do it," she pointed out. "That is not governance; that is cruelty dressed up as policy, and complicity dressed up as leadership. In spite of this, hundreds of thousands of Floridians protested, organized, called their legislators, and refused to look away. They made this moment possible, and we should name that clearly: This is what accountability looks like when the government won't hold itself accountable."
Mulfort also stressed that "as people are transferred to other facilities, the abuses do not disappear—they relocate." She and Iguina González pledged that the state and national ACLU will not stop tracking abuses of immigrants across the country.
"The nightmarish scene found at 'Alligator Alcatraz' is not wholly unique and reflects systemic patterns of abuse at other ICE detention facilities nationwide," Iguina González said. "We remain very concerned that people may be transferred to other sites with sordid and dangerous conditions, and we will continue to monitor this situation."
Paul Chavez, director of litigation and advocacy at AIJ, also emphasized that "closing this facility is an important step, but the government's obligation to respect due process does not end at the facility gates. Constitutional rights must follow every person wherever they are detained."
"We remain deeply concerned that people transferred out of this facility will continue to face mistreatment and civil rights violations in other detention centers," he said. "Americans for Immigrant Justice will continue to defend due process, offer free legal representation to low-income immigrants, and stand strong with our immigrant neighbors, friends, and their families."
After using $1 billion to brutalize immigrants, the concentration camp known as "Alligator Alcatraz" has been emptied. Its victims still need justice.truthout.org/articles/flo...
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— UAINE (@mahtowin1.bsky.social) June 22, 2026 at 10:36 PM
As for the environmental impact, The New York Times reported that after the Trump administration announced that detainees had been relocated, Paul J. Schwiep, an attorney for groups suing over Alligator Alcatraz, promised last week to continue the lawsuit against what he called the "secret gulag in the Everglades."
"They hope that they can slink away in the middle of the night without explaining to anyone what they did, why they did it, or how they proposed to clean up the mess that they've made," said Schwiep. "And we don't intend to let them get away with it."
Ripping the facility as an "internment camp," Congressman Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.) similarly asserted on Thursday that "the fight isn't over. We need accountability for the billions of taxpayer dollars wasted, the abuse and harm inflicted on detainees, and the damage done to one of Florida's most sacred ecosystems."
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‘Brazen Partisan Power Grab’: Florida Supreme Court Defies State Constitution to Give GOP Another Redistricting Win
Florida's constitution explicitly bans partisan gerrymandering. But a court full of DeSantis appointees just upheld maps that give the GOP 24 of the state's 28 seats with no time to reverse it before November.
Jun 11, 2026
In defiance of state law and the will of voters, the Florida Supreme Court has handed Republicans another major win in the redistricting wars in time for this year’s midterms, approving a ruthlessly gerrymandered map that could hand another four US House seats to the GOP.
Florida’s state constitution is unusually explicit in its ban on partisan gerrymandering; the Fair Districts Amendment (FDA) approved in 2010 by 63% of voters expressly states that maps may not be drawn “with the intent to favor or disfavor a political party or an incumbent.” The court has struck down previous attempts by Republicans to draw more favorable maps on these grounds as recently as 2015.
But six of the seven justices that make up the current court have been appointed by Florida’s Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis. And when voting rights groups challenged a new map signed by the governor last month that is projected to give Republicans an advantage in 24 of the state’s 28 House districts, the right-wing court gave DeSantis what he wanted.
By a 6-1 ruling, the court on Wednesday declined to rule on the merits of the case, denying opponents' request for an emergency injunction, with the majority arguing that, despite the rapidly approaching election, this was not enough of a reason to rule on it while it's still being reviewed by a lower court.
The lone dissenter, Justice Jorge Labarga, who happens to be the only justice not appointed by DeSantis, argued that the case could be reviewed under the court's "pass-through" provision, which allows the court to expedite rulings on matters of great public importance.
"Surely," he said, "the upcoming 2026 congressional elections affecting the representation of millions of Floridians meet that threshold.”
With the state’s primaries set for August 18, this virtually guarantees that, despite its unconstitutionality, the map will be in place come November, as Republicans across the nation try to "pack and crack" enough Democratic strongholds to cling to control of the House in 2026.
In a post to social media, Florida's Republican Attorney General, James Uthmeier, celebrated the order as a “COMPLETE AND TOTAL VICTORY.”
The Florida Supreme Court has REJECTED the challenge to the state’s redistricting plan and new map.
This assures that the recently enacted map will be in place for the 2026 election.
— Ron DeSantis (@RonDeSantis) June 10, 2026
Opponents of the map—including Common Cause, the League of Women Voters, and the League of United Latin American Citizens—have said that the governor has made no effort to hide the overtly partisan nature of his redistricting push, which he carried out rapidly under an emergency session of the state legislature without public input.
In their lawsuit last month, they pointed out that the governor himself provided a color-coded version of the map to Fox News to highlight projected GOP gains—although Republicans won just under 57% of votes in House elections across Florida in 2024, they’d be expected to control nearly 86% of seats under the new maps.
Meanwhile, Jason Poreda, a senior DeSantis adviser who has described himself as the map's "drawer" has acknowledged that he used "partisan data" to draw the map in spite of the FDA.
As is the case with many of the maps drawn to maximize GOP power, DeSantis' cracks up majority-minority districts, including one predominantly Black district in Palm Beach and Broward County, and splinters the Orlando-Kissimmee area's Latino community across four districts.
And here is the new Florida congressional map in Dave's Redistricting: https://t.co/fTqDHjncwz pic.twitter.com/UTxflFazT0
— The Redistrict Network (@RedistrictNet) June 10, 2026
“The fact that this is a partisan gerrymander is as obvious as it is unconstitutional,” said Bradley Heard, deputy legal director of the Southern Poverty Law Center, which represented the plaintiffs last month. “And while this unnecessary map is egregious in how it advantages Republicans and disadvantages Democrats, the people who will suffer the most if it is allowed to stand are once again Black and Brown communities, whose voices are consistently silenced in these redistricting battles."
Florida Circuit Judge Joshua Hawkes, a DeSantis appointee who upheld the maps last month, declined to weigh in substantively on the question of whether the new map violated the FDA, but said it was more in line with the maps favored by the US Supreme Court in the recent Louisiana v. Callais decision, which struck at the heart of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 by effectively ending protections for districts drawn to give representation to nonwhite voters.
While Hawkes also did not weigh in on Republican arguments that the entire FDA should be thrown out because of Callais, he said it was ultimately fine for the court to defer ruling on DeSantis' map because "to the extent the court has to balance Florida’s FDA prohibition of improper partisan intent and the United States Constitution’s Equal Protection guarantees, it seems clear that the potential partisan intent is the lesser of the two evils."
The Callais decision has given Republicans a decisive upper hand in the redistricting wars that were kicked off last year when President Donald Trump called on red states to enact unprecedented hyperpartisan gerrymanders in an effort to beat back an expected Democratic wave in 2026.
An aggressive and explicitly racial gerrymander in Texas enacted without voter approval was upheld by the US Supreme Court last month, netting the GOP an expected five seats, and six other red states have redrawn maps to likely squeeze in one new Republican seat apiece.
And while GOP gains have been somewhat offset by California voters' approval of an amendment to allow Democrats to draw their own hyperpartisan maps, the US Supreme Court's refusal to stop the Virginia state supreme court from striking down of a voter-approved Democratic gerrymander dealt a critical blow to efforts to even the score, and Democrats have vanishingly few opportunities to make up ground before the coming midterms.
Florida Republicans blatantly violate their constitution and brutally gerrymander their map without a single vote = 100% legal.
Virginians vote to change their constitution so they can temporarily offset right wing gerrymandering = 100% illegal.
America is a banana republic. https://t.co/vTer29RSqQ
— Micah Erfan (@micah_erfan) June 11, 2026
Florida represents yet another notch in the win column for Republicans, but opponents say they will attempt to fight the gerrymander ahead of future elections.
"The Florida Supreme Court's failure to stop this brazen partisan power grab is not only an assault on democracy, but an abdication of its duty to the people of Florida," said Genesis Robinson, the executive director of the voting rights group Equal Ground. "Courts are meant to serve as a check on government overreach and a safeguard against constitutional violations, but, once again, when Floridians needed that protection most, the court declined to intervene."
"The time to protect voters from irreparable harm is before another election takes place under this map," he added. "And while we remain committed to ensuring that Florida's constitutional protections are fully upheld, Florida voters deserve fair maps, fair representation, and a democracy that works for everyone now."
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Florida Man's Wrongful Arrest Suit Highlights Dangers of AI Facial Recognition in Policing
"Over a year later, I'm still picking up the pieces of my life, all because the police relied on this dangerous technology instead of doing their jobs and actually investigating," said Robert Dillon.
Jun 10, 2026
A federal lawsuit filed Wednesday in the Middle District of Florida by a Fort Myers resident wrongfully arrested nearly two years ago highlights the risks of police agencies relying on facial recognition tools.
"This case is about what happens when police let an error-prone artificial intelligence (AI) system stand in for an investigation," explains the complaint, filed by attorneys with the state and national ACLU as well as the firm Hoguet Newman Regal & Kenney. "A facial recognition algorithm flagged Robert Dillon as the man who tried to lure or entice a child under 12 years old at a Jacksonville Beach McDonald's. It was wrong."
The 52-year-old "lives more than 300 miles from" and "had never set foot in Jacksonville Beach," the complaint continues. "But rather than test the machine's answer against the evidence that would have cleared him, the officers built a case to confirm it. Mr. Dillon was arrested and prosecuted for one of the most stigmatizing crimes a person can face."
Dillon—one of at least 15 people wrongfully arrested in the United States due to police reliance on incorrect facial recognition results—is suing the city of Jacksonville Beach as well as law enforcement officers from the Jacksonville Beach Police Department, Jacksonville Sheriff's Office (JSO), and Pinellas County Sheriff's Office.
Reporting on the case Wednesday, Wired noted that while the Pinellas agency did not respond to a request for comment, a JSO spokesperson simply said that "due to pending litigation, we would be unable to comment further on the incident."
The actual suspect allegedly approached a girl at the McDonald's shortly before midnight on November 2, 2023. The following month, Dillon was flagged as a possible match by the Face Analysis Comparison and Examination System (FACES)—which "has been operated by the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office since 2001, making it one of the oldest police face-recognition systems in the country," according to Wired. "At its peak in 2021, its tens of millions of Florida mug shots and driver's license photos were accessible to more than 260 agencies."
After denying any involvement in the case in December, Dillon was arrested at his home in front of his wife the next August, "held overnight in jail, forced to borrow money and pledge the title to his truck to post bond, subjected to months of criminal prosecution, and publicly branded with a mugshot that remains accessible online, long after the charges were dropped," the complaint states. "Community members still approach him in public to ask about the case. He no longer feels comfortable being friendly to children."
"He had no connection to the McDonald's, to the child who was targeted, or to anyone involved in the crime. He became a suspect for one reason: a facial recognition algorithm included him in a list of possible matches to a suspect captured on grainy surveillance footage at the restaurant," the document emphasizes. "The investigating officer treated that algorithmic output as a near-certain identification, omitted critical exculpatory evidence from his arrest warrant application, and failed to pursue routine investigative steps that would have immediately excluded Mr. Dillon as a suspect."
"The arrest warrant that deprived Mr. Dillon of his liberty was the product of a cascade of investigative failures by the lead investigator, Jacksonville Beach Police Department officer (now corporal) Scott O'Connell," according to the filing. Among them was the officer's "complete failure to consider that the suspect was alleged to have been a 'regular' customer."
The complaint also notes that "O'Connell is an officer with a documented history of volatility and poor judgment, having previously been terminated from the St. Johns County Sheriff's Office for threatening to 'blow up' the agency, later reinstated, then arrested for domestic battery before resigning under the weight of those charges. Jacksonville Beach PD hired him anyway, assigned him as lead investigator on a sensitive child-luring case, and later promoted him to corporal after his investigation resulted in the wrongful arrest and prosecution of an innocent man."
Dillon said in a Wednesday statement that "the night I spent in jail after they arrested me for a crime I did not commit still haunts me to this day. I will never get over how terrified and worried I was, wondering if I'd ever go home to my wife and daughter again."
"Over a year later, I'm still picking up the pieces of my life, all because the police relied on this dangerous technology instead of doing their jobs and actually investigating," Dillon added. "Florida police must implement safeguards and ensure this never happens to anyone else, because until they do, nobody is safe."
Nate Freed Wessler, deputy director of the ACLU’s Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project, stressed that "no one should lose their freedom or be scared to leave their house because an algorithm got it wrong."
"These Florida police departments owe it to Mr. Dillon to make amends and to take serious steps to make sure this doesn't happen to anyone else," he argued. "Police across the country are on notice: Unreliable face recognition technology is hurting people, and we will keep fighting to hold them accountable for these abuses."
The ACLU has previously sounded the alarm over other cases, including those of Robert Williams, a Black man wrongfully arrested in 2020 after software owned by Michigan State Police misidentified him as a shoplifting suspect, and Randal Reid, who spent nearly a week in jail in 2022 after he was falsely identified as a luxury purse thief by Louisiana authorities.
The legal group on Wednesday also pointed to the reported role of FACES in the 2025 wrongful arrest of New Smyrna Beach resident Beau Burgess, as well as another case involving the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office: Jalil Richardson told Action News Jax earlier this month that after being misidentified as a vehicle thief, he "sat in there for over 50 days, in the most worst jail ever."
"There was no proper investigation done... to even reach out to me or to see if I was even in Florida," said Richardson, whose charges were dropped after he provided time sheets showing that he was at work in North Carolina when the vehicle was stolen.
In his case, JSO provided a lengthy statement, saying in part that "facial recognition software is just one tool in a large toolbox for investigators," and "calling the arrest the result 'police AI misidentification' is a catchy headline but does not provide accurate context," including that "the victim chose Mr. Richardson out of a photographic lineup to include other potential suspects."
Nicholas Warren, staff attorney at the ACLU of Florida, said Wednesday that "one wrongful arrest is one too many."
"Florida's growing reliance on facial recognition technology threatens us all," he warned. "We must stop this dangerous pattern before it traps more innocent people. No one should have their freedom taken away because the police rely on faulty technology."
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'Lawyers Have Been Disbarred for Less': Ethics Complaint Skewers Former Trump AG Pam Bondi
“The attorney general has the awesome responsibility to set a national example of ethical behavior... From her first day as attorney general, Bondi did just the opposite."
May 27, 2026
The former chief justice of the Florida Supreme Court filed an ethics complaint against former US Attorney General Pam Bondi on Wednesday, accusing her of fostering an "environment of lawlessness" inside the Department of Justice.
The 23-page complaint, submitted to the Florida Bar, accuses Bondi, who was fired in April by President Donald Trump, of having "engaged in what appears to be serious professional misconduct" and violating her professional responsibilities during her time leading the DOJ.
The complaint was filed by Peggy Quince, who retired from the bench in 2019 after serving on the state's high court for two decades. She was joined by a group of legal ethics organizations, including the group Lawyers Defending American Democracy (LDAD), where she now sits on the board. The complaint is also backed by over 100 legal scholars and retired judges.
"As the former chief justice of this state's highest court, there are key principles that we must protect," Quince said. "First, whatever legal position you have achieved, you are still bound to follow the Rules of Professional Conduct. All lawyers are alike in that regard, and no one lawyer is above the law. Second, the Florida Bar and the Florida Supreme Court have a duty to ensure that lawyers adhere to all applicable rules. That should be the baseline minimum for this profession."
“The attorney general has the awesome responsibility to set a national example of ethical behavior—and to ensure that DOJ lawyers live up to that standard,” said James W. Conrad, Jr., an LDAD volunteer and a principal author of the complaint. “From her first day as attorney general, Bondi did just the opposite, personally and repeatedly violating ethical standards and coercing Department lawyers into violating their own professional responsibilities if they wanted to keep their jobs.”
Citing a memo she signed on her first day on the job directing DOJ employees to engage in "zealous advocacy" for the policy set by the "chief executive," the complaint accuses Bondi of having fostered a “fall-in-line-or-be-gone” attitude within the department that measured success only by serving the interests of Trump.
As a result, it said employees "were induced to engage in acts they were ethically forbidden from doing, under threat of suspension or termination—or were fired for not doing so."
The complaint highlights the DOJ's "blatant violations" of the Epstein Files Transparency Act by failing to release large numbers of files, and overredacting ones that referenced powerful individuals—including Trump—while exposing sensitive information about more than 100 alleged survivors of the sex offender's abuse, including nude photos of some.
Under Bondi's watch, the complaint also says DOJ lawyers violated an “unprecedented number” of binding court orders, particularly in cases related to the unlawful detention of immigrants.
It cites a list created by Patrick J. Schiltz, the Chief Judge of the US District Court for Minnesota, which found that during US Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) "Operation Metro Surge," the agency had violated 96 orders in a single month. A tally from another judge in New Jersey found between 52 and 72 violations within just two months.
In these cases, where ICE ignored orders to provide legal hearings, release detainees, or not remove them from the district, the complaint said Bondi took “no apparent action” to make the agency obey the law.
The complaint also accuses Bondi of directing employees to bring cases against Trump's political and personal enemies without probable cause, in direct response to the president's political pressure.
It cites Bondi's appointment of the inexperienced prosecutor Lindsey Halligan as US attorney to go after figures hated by Trump, like New York Attorney General Letitia James and former FBI Director James Comey, after previous prosecutors balked at bringing charges due to lack of evidence. After Halligan's appointment was ruled to be improper, a judge threw out the indictments, though the DOJ has attempted to bring new charges.
A grand jury also declined the DOJ's attempts to bring felony charges against six Democratic congresspeople who made a video reminding members of the military that they could disobey unlawful orders issued by the president.
It also accuses Bondi's DOJ of attempting to hit anti-ICE protesters with vague and flimsy charges, like the man who was charged with felony assault for throwing a sandwich at a Customs and Border Protection Officer and was ultimately acquitted.
“Bondi repeatedly ignored her ethical obligations,” said Virginia Canter, chief counsel and director of anti-corruption and ethics at Democracy Defenders Fund, another group backing the complaint. “She was responsible for releasing sensitive information about Epstein victims, shielding documents in the Epstein files from the American public, violating court orders, and charging citizens for crimes without probable cause. This warrants an investigation and action—lawyers have been disbarred for less.”
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