The detention of two Italian nationals at Alligator Alcatraz, The new immigrant detention center in Florida's Everglades is sparking criticism from lawmakers in Italy, who are calling on their country's conservative government to speak out.
Gaetano Mirabella Costa and Fernando Artese are being held in "inhuman and degrading" conditions at the facility, Laura Boldrini, a lawmaker from the opposition Democratic Party, said on social media, pushing for the men to be repatriated. Angelo Bonelli of the Green Europe party said The two Italians had been "locked in cages, without access to a lawyer, deprived of dignity, water and decent food."
Former prime minister Matteo Renzi, now a senator who leads the Italia Viva party, accused Giorgia Meloni's government showed deference to President Donald Trump rather than acting to "defend the rights of an Italian citizen." Meloni, Italy's most right-wing leader in decades, has one of the better relationships with Trump among European leaders. The Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Homeland Security Department spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin confirmed in an email that the two Italian nationals were being held at the facility. Florida officials and Republican lawmakers who have visited the facility have disputed reports of poor conditions there.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement has ramped up arrests in recent months, as Trump seeks to fulfill his campaign promise of mass deportations. The crackdown has prompted concern about civil rights violations and detainees held in substandard conditions .
Under President Trump and Secretary Noem, if you break the law, you will face the consequences," McLaughlin said in an emailed statement. "Criminal illegal aliens are not welcome in the U.S.
According to McLaughlin, Costa overstayed a B2 tourist visa for nearly seven years. Artese entered the United States through the visa waiver program, which allowed a stay of about three months, but he remained in the country for about ten years, she said. DHS stated that both had been arrested on alleged criminal charges but did not immediately respond to a request for clarification on whether either had been convicted of a crime.
The detention facility, nicknamed Alligator Alcatraz by Florida Republicans and the Trump administration, opened July 3 in the state's wetlands and could house thousands of migrants this year, according to officials.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) seized the rarely used Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport in South Florida last month for the state to set up what he called a "temporary detention area" with tents for detainees, sleeping pods for guards and generators for power.
Detainees and former guards told The Washington Post Last week, deliveries of drinking and bathing water were inadequate, the tents covering detainees' chain-link cells did not keep out rainwater, and the facility was infested with mosquitoes.
In a lawsuit filed last week, immigrant rights advocates alleged detainees had been blocked from accessing attorneys, according to a news release from the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida.
Stephanie Hartman, spokeswoman for the Florida Division of Emergency Management, disputed the accounts and said the facility was in "good working order."
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