DHS May Be Covering Up Disease Outbreak at “Alligator Alcatraz”

FLORIDA — Immigration attorneys are accusing federal and Florida officials of covering up a contagious disease outbreak at the Everglades detention center known as “Alligator Alcatraz,” after a detainee suffered a serious medical emergency and was held incommunicado for 48 hours.

According to a joint statement from attorneys Eric Lee, Chris Godshall-Bennett, and James Hollis, Venezuelan detainee Luis Manuel Rivas Velasquez collapsed inside Tent 5 of the facility and was denied medical attention for two days, despite repeated pleas for help. The 38-year-old, previously in good health, reportedly endured breathing difficulties and was told by one guard, “I can’t help you.”

Rivas Velasquez was eventually transferred to Kendall Hospital, where he was diagnosed with a respiratory infection. Witnesses say he was handcuffed to his hospital bed, surrounded by armed guards. Detainees reported seeing him lose consciousness and become nonresponsive before his eventual transfer to a medical facility.

“We are all sick in this jail,” said Rivas Velasquez by phone after his return to the internment camp. “It is an emergency. They are treating us like dogs, like animals.” He struggled to breathe as he made this statement. “Somebody needs to do something to help us,” said Rivas Velasquez. Then the phone call abruptly cut off.

“My brother is not in good health,” said Rivas Velasquez’s sister, Ada Yeniree Velasquez Pereira, “and according to the testimonies we have received, 80% of the people detained there are not either.” She called for urgent help for all the detainees affected by the outbreak. “I urgently request the collaboration of those who can help — organizations, media outlets, authorities — to protect the life of my brother and everyone else there. The responsible entities must assume their duty and not allow this situation to continue.”

Rivas Velasquez’s sister concluded on an emotional note: “My brother does not deserve to be treated like an animal.”

Eric Lee, Chris Godshall-Bennett, and James Hollis are working pro bono as Rivas Velasquez’s attorneys. “Crimes of historic proportions are taking place at the ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ internment camp,” they wrote in a statement. “None of us can claim ignorance.”

The law firm issued a call for criminal investigation: “All those responsible for creating deliberately inhumane conditions must be criminally investigated and prosecuted to the full extent of the law.”

Family members of detainees fearing illness are urged to contact info@leegblaw.com.