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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
World
Richard Luscombe in Miami

Human cages and overflowing toilets at $1m a day: the brutal legacy of Ron DeSantis’s ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ jail

The president surrounded by other people stands in a detention center
Donald Trump, alongside Ron DeSantis, tours the facility on 1 July 2025. Photograph: Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images

It took three days for Arianne Betancourt’s joy at the release of her father from months of detention in Florida’s notorious so-called “Alligator Alcatraz” immigration jail to fully evaporate.

At first, she was able to overlook his shockingly gaunt appearance and weight loss, hesitant movements and moments of slurred speech. The tonic of being back in her Miami apartment, she thought, would surely hasten his return to health.

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