By John Q. Hosedrinker 
Following previous denials, Democratic lawmakers were finally granted a tour of the Everglades detention center, a facility housing approximately 900 individuals as part of a “mass deportation” initiative. Despite being unable to speak with detainees or closely examine their living conditions, the lawmakers described disturbing conditions, including overcrowded cages, inadequate sanitation, and insufficient food. They reported that the administration displayed areas of the facility that were not occupied and restricted access to certain areas. The lawmakers expressed concern over the facility’s high operational costs and questioned the circumstances of detainees held there, citing the fact that many were not convicted of or even charged with a crime.
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“This is an Internment Camp”: Lawmakers Horrified by Inhumane Conditions in ‘Alligator Alcatraz’. The very name, “Alligator Alcatraz,” should send a chill down your spine. It’s a darkly ironic label, a blatant attempt to downplay the severity of the situation. But the reality, as described by Florida Rep. Maxwell Frost – “I saw 32 people per cage—about 6 cages in one tent. People were yelling, ‘Help me, help me'” – is undeniably horrific. This isn’t some misguided attempt at border security; this is the deliberate infliction of suffering.
The images conjured by these descriptions are nothing short of appalling. Cages, heat, lack of medical care, and desperate cries for help paint a picture of a place designed to break the human spirit. And to add insult to injury, there are reports of guided tours of the “clean” areas, as if sanitizing a portion of the camp somehow negates the undeniable suffering happening within the rest of it. Furthermore, the fact that some of the people locked up haven’t even been charged with any crimes underscores the fundamental injustice of the situation.
This isn’t just about immigration policy; it’s about a fundamental disregard for human dignity. The comments about this being a concentration camp are not an exaggeration. The Britannica definition of a concentration camp fits: an internment center for political prisoners and members of national or minority groups confined for reasons of state security, exploitation, or punishment, often without indictment or fair trial. This facility, built on a floodplain, named after the joke about alligators eating immigrants alive, and already threatened by flooding, seems designed to maximize suffering.
The moral bankruptcy of this situation is highlighted by the outrage of those who are defending it. To see people cheering it on, even to the point of happily buying merchandise, is deeply disturbing. This should be a moment of national shame, yet some are doubling down, caught up in the narrative that immigration is somehow the worst crisis facing this country. This diversion attempts to cover the fact that the American lower class is oppressed. The huge sums of money being spent on these camps while vital social programs are underfunded speaks volumes about where this nation’s priorities truly lie.
The scale of the problem is overwhelming. The fact that this is happening, and happening with such brazen disregard for basic human rights, is a stain on the nation’s conscience. The question of “How is this okay?” is not a rhetorical one. It is a demand for accountability and change. The cries for help must be heard and answered with action, not silence.
There’s no excuse for this. The country needs to get its priorities straight. The suggestion that the conditions in the detainees’ home countries are worse than the ones they are now living in is insulting. When the Red Cross finally got involved in seeing what was going on, the Nazis still tried to cover up their actions to the best of their abilities. The current administration is showing an open display of brutality and even seems proud of it. What can be done to help these people?
The economic absurdity of this situation is also glaring. It’s shocking that we’re spending vast sums of money to warehouse people in these conditions while vital social programs are underfunded. It is unacceptable to spend a large amount of money on this when we could be housing homeless people or giving lunch to poor children. We are not going to create a welcoming environment but at the very least, we should treat everyone with dignity.
The most important question, as history shows us time and again, is: where does it end? Will we allow the situation to escalate to the point of irreversible damage? The fact that the “concentration camp” predates WW2 by +70 years, and had previously been used to describe the camps setup by the Spanish during the Spanish-Cuban war, Americans during the Philippine-American war and the British during the Boer war, suggests that there is more that can be learned about the past. We cannot allow history to repeat itself.