Overview

• Friends of the Everglades and the Center for Biological Diversity argue the facility violates the National Environmental Policy Act and threatens protected wetlands, endangered species and tribal sacred lands.
• Federal and state attorneys contend the project falls outside preconstruction environmental review requirements because DHS did not directly authorize or fund the camp.
• Detainees report being served maggot-riddled food once daily, denied access to bathing water and left under constant lighting amid swarms of oversized insects in makeshift tents.
• Former Bureau of Prisons director Hugh Hurwitz warned that the absence of inmate medical histories, chronic staffing shortages and the facility’s expedited construction pose serious safety and health risks.
• Built in eight days under emergency powers with FEMA funding, the camp opened July 1 with 3,000 beds and plans to expand to 5,000 as part of the administration’s mass-deportation directive.