The Daily Populous Tuesday July 8th, 2025 evening edition
Authored by cbsnews.com and submitted by Camadorski

Cuban reggaeton artist Leamsy La Figura, arrested last week in Miami-Dade on assault charges, was transferred to South Florida's new immigration detention facility known as Alligator Alcatraz in the Everglades, the singer confirmed in a phone call.

He and other detainees claim they are enduring inhumane conditions at the site, including lack of access to water, inadequate food and denial of religious rights.

Alligator Alcatraz was built in a matter of days on a rarely used municipal airport located about 50 miles west of the City of Miami. The first group of detainees arrived at the center on July 3, according to state Attorney General James Uthmeier.

La Figura, whose real name is Leamsy Isquierdo, was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and battery. He was initially held at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center (TGK) before being transferred to Alligator Alcatraz.

"There's no water to take a bath"

In a phone call from inside the facility, La Figura described what he called horrific conditions.

"I am Leamsy La Figura. We've been here at Alcatraz since Friday. There's over 400 people here. There's no water to take a bath, it's been four days since I've taken a bath," he said.

He claimed the food at the immigration facility is scarce and unsanitary.

"They only brought a meal once a day and it had maggots. They never take off the lights for 24 hours. The mosquitoes are as big as elephants," La Figura said.

Detainees say rights are being violated

Other detainees echoed La Figura's concerns, alleging violations of their basic rights.

"They're not respecting our human rights," one man said during the same call. "We're human beings; we're not dogs. We're like rats in an experiment."

"I don't know their motive for doing this, if it's a form of torture. A lot of us have our residency documents and we don't understand why we're here," he added.

A third detainee, who said he is Colombian, described deteriorating mental health and lack of access to necessary medical care.

"I'm on the edge of losing my mind. I've gone three days without taking my medicine," he said. "It's impossible to sleep with this white light that's on all day."

He also claimed his Bible was confiscated.

"They took the Bible I had and they said here there is no right to religion. And my Bible is the one thing that keeps my faith, and now I'm losing my faith," he said.

La Figura's girlfriend said the couple shares a 4-year-old daughter.

Florida authorities have not responded to inhumane conditions allegations

Authorities have not yet responded to the allegations made by detainees at the facility.

CBS News Miami reached out to the Florida Department of Emergency Management but has not heard back. FDEM was the engine behind Alligator Alcatraz, using the state's emergency management tools and funding to build, staff and operate the detention facility.

The detention has faced intense criticism over human rights, environmental impact, oversight and the legality of commandeering protected Everglades land.

PM_Me_Snap_Passwords on July 8th, 2025 at 10:20 UTC »

Going to be honest here, I would have been shocked if it wasn’t inhumane. That would have been the newsworthy and surprising title.

baldycoot on July 8th, 2025 at 07:50 UTC »

This is a full-on concentration camp and everyone fucking knows it: even the vendors supplying services and materials are literally masking over their identifying marks and logos because they know they’re basically supplying a modern concentration camp on U.S. soil.

Where’s the tipping point?

Koutagami2 on July 8th, 2025 at 07:10 UTC »

Tents and cages in a swamp. During hurricane season. Inhumane barely scratches the surface.