Detention of two Italians at ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ sparks backlash at home
Lawmakers called for Italy’s conservative government to do more to secure the repatriation of two nationals held at the new facility in Florida’s Everglades.
Former prime minister Matteo Renzi, now a senator who leads the Italia Viva party, accused Giorgia Meloni’s government of deference to President Donald Trump rather than acting to “defend the rights of an Italian citizen.” Meloni, Italy’s most right-wing leader in decades, has one of the better relationships with Trump among European leaders.
A spokesperson for the Italian Foreign Ministry said Italian officials “have been following the case of compatriots Gaetano Mirabella Costa and Fernando Artese since the first report, keeping in constant contact with their families.”
“The Italian Consulate and Embassy are also keeping in contact with the local authorities in order to obtain information about the modalities and timing of repatriation,” the statement added.
Tricia McLaughlin, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, confirmed in an emailed statement that the two Italian nationals were being held at the facility. Florida officials and Republican lawmakers who have visited the facility have disputed reports of poor conditions there.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement has ramped up arrests in recent months, as Trump seeks to fulfill his campaign promise of mass deportations. The crackdown has prompted concern about civil rights violations and detainees being held in substandard conditions.
“Under President Trump and Secretary Noem, if you break the law, you will face the consequences,” McLaughlin said, referring to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi L. Noem. “Criminal illegal aliens are not welcome in the U.S.”
According to McLaughlin, Costa overstayed a B2 tourism visa for almost seven years. Artese entered the United States using the visa waiver program, which authorized a stay of about three months, but he remained in the country for about a decade, she said. DHS said both had been arrested over alleged criminal offenses but did not immediately respond to a request for clarification on whether either had been convicted of a crime.
The detention facility, dubbed Alligator Alcatraz by Florida Republicans and the Trump administration, opened July 3 in the state’s wetlands and could house thousands of migrants this year, according to officials.
Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) seized the infrequently used Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport in South Florida last month for the state to set up what he called a “makeshift detention space” with tents for detainees, sleeping pods for guards and generators for power.
Detainees and former guards told The Washington Post last week that deliveries of drinking and bathing water were inadequate, that the tents covering detainees’ chain-link cells did not keep out rainwater, and that the facility was infested with mosquitoes.
In a lawsuit filed last week, immigrants rights advocates alleged that detainees had been blocked from accessing attorneys, according to a news release from the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida.
Stephanie Hartman, a spokeswoman for the Florida Division of Emergency Management, disputed the accounts and told The Post that the facility was in “good working order.”
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