GOVERNMENT | HEALTH & WELLNESS | IMMIGRATION

Florida Officials Won't Say If COVID Is Spreading at Alligator Alcatraz

If there's an infectious disease spreading at the facility, the state refuses to say so.

By Alex DeLuca
August 11, 2025



President Donald Trump tours the immigration detention center known as Alligator Alcatraz. Photo by Daniel Torok via Flickr/theWhiteHouse

Alligator Alcatraz, Florida's secretive new immigration detention center, has already drawn scrutiny over claims of inhumane conditions, questions about its legal authority, and recently, allegations about an "outbreak of a serious illness" inside the facility.

But if an infectious disease like, say, COVID-19, is spreading among detainees at the remote site, the state refuses to say so.

On August 7, attorneys Eric Lee and Chris Godshall-Bennet issued a statement on behalf of their client, 38-year-old Venezuelan Luis Manuel Rivas Velásquez, who they say recently suffered a "serious health emergency" while being held at the hastily constructed detention center. According to the statement, Rivas Velasquez, who was previously in good health, collapsed while sitting inside a tent at the facility and "found himself unable to breathe."

He was transported to HCA Florida Kendall Hospital, where he was diagnosed with a respiratory infection, the lawyers say. The statement notes that relatives of other detainees have reported that illness is currently "rampant" at the facility.

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