What does it say about American democracy that children can be seen sleeping in tents surrounded by swamp water in 2025? These images shocked the conscience at the opening of “Alligator Alcatraz,” an immigration detention facility that opened this summer in Florida. Alligator Alcatraz was forced to close within weeks due to public outcry, but this was not an isolated incident. Rather, it was a reflection of a detention system that treats people as disposable rather than human beings.
The Fourteenth Amendment is not just limited to citizens; on the contrary, it guarantees due process to everyone under U.S. jurisdiction. Yet, detention facilities frequently violate this clause. For example, a Government Accountability Office report found detainees were deprived of basic human rights, including timely medical care, adequate food, and access to legal counsel. Additionally, migrants reported receiving spoiled food and facing retaliation for speaking out in Louisiana. One horrifying account in Arizona reported pregnant women being shackled during childbirth. These scandals were not isolated incidents, but rather were the expected outcomes of a system that had minimal oversight and even less accountability. These systemic deprivations of human rights reveal a stark contradiction between America’s constitutional ideals and its treatment of vulnerable migrants.
Furthermore, defenders of harsh detention policies claim poor conditions serve as a deterrent to migration, with Florida officials even suggesting that the alligators surrounding Alligator Alcatraz are a form of enhanced security. This reasoning is not only cruel, but is also simply false, as research indicates that migration is driven by poverty, instability, and violence, as opposed to fear of detainment. Human rights abuses do not serve as a deterrent to immigration; instead, they undermine US ideals while inflicting needless suffering.
This physical abuse persists because the U.S. has no federal law to guarantee minimum detention standards, despite spending over three billion dollars annually on detention. The Department of Homeland Security issues voluntary guidelines that are not consistently enforced. For instance, ICE’s Performance-Based National Detention Standards require facilities to provide detainees with adequate medical care. Yet, many reports have documented delays in treatment leading to otherwise preventable deaths, illustrating how the result of this budget is a system that disregards fundamental human dignity and constitutional rights.
This absence of accountability creates fertile ground for private corporations to step in to exploit the system. For example, private prison companies have turned detention into a booming industry to profit from human suffering. There are corporations collecting billions in taxpayer dollars each year, running facilities with little incentive to improve conditions. This sector makes more money as more people are incarcerated, illustrating how these institutions are treating migrants less like individuals with rights and more like sources of income. By allowing profit to dictate human rights, these organizations are undermining not only immigration policy but also broader principles of justice.
Many critics would argue that the government has an obligation to protect borders and enforce immigration laws. Though true, rights and security are nevertheless not mutually exclusive. America should follow the example of democratic countries that have successfully enforced immigration laws while respecting human rights and dignity. For example, Germany enforces immigration laws while providing detained migrants with access to legal counsel and regular detention reviews, ensuring that detention is used as a last resort and for the shortest duration possible. Germany exemplifies that prioritizing fairness does not weaken enforcement; instead, it strengthens the legitimacy of the immigration system itself.
It is clear that Congress has a constitutional duty to take action. Lawmakers should begin by codifying enforceable requirements for food, medical treatment, and legal access for these facilities. Further, there needs to be unannounced inspections and transparent reporting to achieve true accountability. Detainees must also be able to communicate with their lawyers and appear promptly for their hearings to ensure adequate due process.
Reform is not only humane; it is practical and economically beneficial. Congress should expand alternatives to detention, such as community-based case management programs, which cost $14.05 per person daily and achieve court appearance rates as high as 99 percent, as opposed to $142 daily in ICE custody. These numbers illustrate that humane alternatives are both ethically and fiscally smart.
The closure of Alligator Alcatraz should be interpreted as a warning rather than a win, as this same physical abuse will covertly resurface in facilities far from the public view if reform is not implemented. Reforming immigration detention is a human issue, not a political one. These violations are an infraction of our Constitution, our ideals, and the very essence of America. Congress must ensure protections for every person in U.S. jurisdiction. Anything less is not just a policy failure; it is a failure of conscience.
