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Human Rights Watch Report Exposes Detention Abuses as Lawsuits Target New Everglades Camps

Advocates have filed Endangered Species Act suits to halt new camps following federal authorities’ refusals to address Human Rights Watch’s findings.

Overview

  • The HRW report documents forced kneeling, shackling, overcrowded cells and maggot-infested meals across multiple Florida detention centers.
  • Critically ill detainees have been transferred without essential medications, leading to at least one collapse and the death of Marie Ange Blaise after guards ignored her calls for help.
  • Overcrowding surged by 40 percent since January to more than 56,000 daily detainees, straining capacity at facilities that in some cases saw inmate populations triple.
  • The newly opened “Alligator Alcatraz” facility has reported water shortages, constant lighting, bans on religious practices and refusal of medication for detainees with valid documents.
  • Legal challenges have intensified with federal courts scrutinizing deportation orders and environmental groups filing Endangered Species Act lawsuits over camps built in ecologically sensitive Everglades wetlands.