Torture and Enforced Disappearances at 'Alligator Alcatraz' and Krome Detention Centers

Overview

In December 2025, Amnesty International published the results of a September 2025 research trip to two immigration detention facilities in southern Florida: the Everglades Detention Facility, known as "Alligator Alcatraz," and the Krome North Service Processing Center. The investigation documented treatment that meets the international legal definition of torture, cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, and enforced disappearance.

The Box

The most severe finding involves a punitive device at Alligator Alcatraz called "the box" — a 2x2 foot cage-like structure in which detainees are restrained with their hands and feet attached to the ground. People are placed in the box for hours at a time, exposed to the elements with minimal water. Under established international law standards, including the Nelson Mandela Rules and Convention Against Torture, this practice constitutes torture.

Enforced Disappearances

Alligator Alcatraz operates entirely outside federal oversight. Unlike ICE facilities, it has no registration or tracking systems for detainees. When the whereabouts of a detained person are denied to their family and they are prevented from contacting their lawyer, this meets the legal definition of enforced disappearance under the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance — a crime against humanity under the Rome Statute.

Expert Assessment

Amnesty International concluded that the use of prolonged solitary confinement at Krome and the use of "the box" at Alligator Alcatraz amount to torture or other ill-treatment. The organization called for the immediate closure of Alligator Alcatraz and prohibition of any state-run immigration detention in Florida.