Bearing Witness at ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ and Hoping it’s Closing

Latest

A sign from Witness at the Border at ‘Alligator Alcatraz.’ The blue triangle refers to the system used in concentration camps in Nazi Germany to classify prisoners. The blue triangle was for migrants. Photo/Witness at the Border

Editor’s note: The following is a post put up recently on the Facebook page of Witness at the Border by Joshua Rubin, who is part of the leadership team of that group. It is reprinted here with permission. Rubin spent time with others outside the “Alligator Alcatraz” immigrant detention center in the Florida Everglades bearing witness to and challenging the existence of such a cruel detention and deportation system. It appears the government may be closing the facility down in the wake of a lawsuit challenging its existence on environmental grounds.

I am home, and anxiously following the news that seems to indicate that the clues we were following in front of Alligator Alcatraz were real: that the sadistic villains who conspired to turn the miraculous Everglades into an instrument of torture for people snatched off the streets of Florida have suffered a defeat, and it will close down. Even by their own measure, the place was a failure. By ours, it was a fascist abomination.

Their idea was that it would amuse their fellow sadists, while logistically it would work like this: they would stow people with final deportation orders in unlivable conditions and then, at their leisure, load them onto flights taking off for other countries using the largely unused airstrip, built in the 1970s in anticipation of supersonic flights that never materialized, and was abandoned. Back when the airstrip was half built , it became a point of contention that, believe it or not, led to the establishment of the Environmental Protection Agency under Nixon.

The problem for them is, as it is all across the country, that just grabbing brown skinned people with the idea of deporting them isn’t as easy as they want it to be. Oh, they can grab them, and incarcerate them, and, dare I say, torture them. But deporting them takes a few judicial steps that they couldn’t quite manage. So the flights out of alligator land were destined for other domestic prisons where they have kangaroo courts nearby to finish the job of declaring them deportable. And no such courts operate in the heart of the Everglades.

But they drummed up a sensation that not only angered the people that love the Everglades, but also those of us to whom their gleeful grandstanding about the harsh conditions for our fellow human creatures was an abomination. With every sign they posted along the Tamiami Trail and their publicity barrage about their admitted cruelty, they raised the ire of good people.

And some of us went. And we withstood the brutal heat and humidity and thunder and lightning and torrential rain of south Florida summer, standing swarmed by mosquitos, and watching for the alligators that indeed occupied the roadside rivers. And the lawyers rallied. And the press reported. And now, all signs point to the closure of what was, clearly, a concentration camp.

One lawsuit in particular now challenges the right of any state to become an arm of the brutal deportation machine. Watching…hoping.

But not counting on it.

I will be recovering for a few days, at home, embraced by family. It’s good to be home.

+ Articles by this author

Joshua Rubin is founder of Witness at the Border.

Free to republish but please credit the People's Tribune. Visit us at www.peoplestribune.org, email peoplestribune@gmail.com, or call 773-486-3551.

The People’s Tribune brings you articles written by individuals or organizations, along with our own reporting. Bylined articles reflect the views of the authors. Unsigned articles reflect the views of the editorial board. Please credit the source when sharing: ©2024 peoplestribune.org. Please donate to help us keep bringing you voices of the movement. Click here. We’re all volunteer, no paid staff.

Featured

Journalist Says Why ‘I Can No Longer Work With Reuters’

A photojournalist says why it is impossible for her to maintain a relationship with Reuters "given its role in justifying and enabling the systematic assassination of 245 journalists in Gaza."

Abrego Garcia Detained Again, Could be Deported to Uganda

Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran immigrant worker, was freed from detention in Tennessee Aug. 22 and then re-arrested by ICE on Aug. 25 in Maryland. The Trump administration is trying to deport Abrego Garcia to Uganda.

An Open Letter to Mayor Matt Mahan of San Jose, CA.

From the San Jose CA Frontlines: Stop the sweeps. Unhoused people want a safe place to stay. All people should be respected, shown compassion, understanding.

Global Food Authority Declares Catastrophic Famine in Gaza

On Aug. 22, the world's top authority on hunger crises officially declared that a catastrophe-level famine in Gaza exists—a humanitarian disaster engineered by Israel's relentless blockade of food aid and other life-saving supplies.

Thousands of Texans Protest Trump’s Redistricting Plan To Get More Votes

The Texas capitol of Austin saw 5,000 people protesting Trump’s unconstitutional redistricting plan and other issues threatening our democracy.

More from the People's Tribune