NEWS / Some Alligator Alcatraz inmates do not have criminal records – report

Hundreds of immigrants with no criminal record are currently detained at “Alligator Alcatraz”, a new detention facility located in the Everglades region of the US State of Florida, according to records obtained by the Tampa Bay Times and Miami Herald.

The records indicate that over 250 people are being detained at Alligator Alcatraz on immigration violations only and no felonies. More than 700 people are detained at or are scheduled to be sent to the makeshift detention center, often being held in tents or in chain link cells.

The Tampa Bay Times reports that about a third of the detainees have criminal convictions ranging from murder to traffic violations, with hundreds of others pending charges.

Data from Syracuse University suggests that up to half of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainees did not have any criminal convictions and were being held solely on their immigration violations. Some lawmakers, such as US House Representative Carlos Gimenez of southeast Florida, have disagreed with the one-size-fits-all approach of President Donald Trump’s administration.

“We are working hard to express our opinion and let the President and the administration know that there is a better way, a more just way, for the people here in Miami-Dade County,” Gimenez was quoted by the Miami Herald as stating during a bilingual press conference outside a federal detention center in Miami. “Because they are our neighbors, and productive members of society,”

Some immigrant rights activists have noted that having otherwise law-abiding undocumented immigrants mingled with hardened criminals may not be a very good idea. On the other hand, Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin remarked that the absence of a criminal charge in the United States does not mean that those detained are completely innocent.

“Many of the individuals that are counted as non-criminals are actually terrorists, human rights abusers, gangsters and more; they just don’t have a rap sheet in the U.S.,” McLaughlin was quoted by the Tampa Bay Times as stating. “Further, every single one of these individuals committed a crime when they came into this country illegally. It is not an accurate description to say they are non-criminals.”

McLaughlin also underscored that 70% of ICE arrests were of individuals with criminal records or pending charges. She also noted that the ultimate decision on whom to detain lay with the State of Florida, as the facility was overseen by state, not federal authorities.

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