Hunger Strike at Alligator Alcatraz Highlights Detention Conditions

(FLORIDA) — Pedro Lorenzo Concepción ended his 17-day hunger strike on August 8, 2025, after ICE assured him he is not on the deportable list, but he remained detained at the Krome Service Processing Center amid continuing uncertainty about his case.

Concepción, a 44-year-old Cuban migrant, had been transferred out of Florida’s Everglades-based “Alligator Alcatraz” as his health worsened, and later resumed eating “rice, fish, corn, and cereal,” the report said. He struggled after the fast and required a wheelchair during hospitalization.

Timeline of detention and protest

• Concepción arrived in the United States by raft in 2006, the report said.
• He was detained on July 9, 2025, and his protest began on July 22, 2025.
• His separation from family began abruptly on July 8, 2025, when he went into an ICE office in Miramar for a routine check-in and did not come out.
• He ended his hunger strike on August 8, 2025, and later confirmed by video call on August 10, 2025 that ICE had clarified his non-deportable status.
• Even after that assurance, he remained at Krome as of late 2025, leaving his family still fearful of separation.

“Since ICE controls my life, it’s up to them to decide whether I live or die,” Concepción declared early in his protest.

Health impacts and actions during the hunger strike

Concepción’s hunger strike produced severe health effects, as described in the report:

• Symptoms included acidity, fainting spells, and constant fatigue.
• He refused even juice during a three-day hospital stay at Kendall Hospital, signing a document rejecting treatment to maintain solidarity with other detainees.
• Officials reportedly checked his vitals only after collapses.
• After transfer and hospitalization he required a wheelchair and later resumed eating simple foods.

Daimarys Hernández, identified as Concepción’s wife and a manicurist raising their two children, pleaded by phone as his condition deteriorated: “I prefer you alive, even if deported,” she said.

El País published what the report described as Concepción’s frail voice from a crowded cell shared with 31 others during the strike.

Alligator Alcatraz: facility, capacity, and criticisms

The Everglades site nicknamed “Alligator Alcatraz” opened in July 2025 and became a focal point of controversy.

• Built in just eight days on a former airport runway.
• Designed for “rapid processing” at $245 per bed per day.
• Planned capacity: 5,000; initial population under 1,000 detainees, many Cuban.
• By late 2025, the report said the site expanded to 4,000 capacity; peak overcrowding reached over 1,500 detainees even as the planned capacity grew from 2,000 to 4,000.

Allegations and conditions cited in the report:

• Lawsuits and protests over overcrowding, unsanitary conditions, medical neglect, and rapid deportations (at least 100 removals reported by late July).
• Use of tents, trailers, and razor wire in swamps described as alligator- and python-infested.
• Claims of violations on Miccosukee Tribe sacred lands and bypassing of environmental reviews.
• Activists labeled the site a “concentration camp.”

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier framed the location as a deterrent: “If someone escapes, not much awaits besides caimans and pythons,” he boasted, according to the report.

Detainee accounts and allegations of mistreatment

Groups including the Florida Immigrant Coalition corroborated detainee accounts describing:

• Overcrowded pods with limited movement and rest.
• Unsanitary facilities where detainees were reportedly left in fecal matter until it dried.
• 24/7 lighting, limited hygiene (showers three times weekly without privacy), and constant surveillance including strip searches.
• Medical neglect: outbreaks (including rapid COVID spread), poor nutrition, delayed care, and hospitalizations.
• Detention transfers that disrupted protests and were described by advocates as retaliation.

Concepción’s case was cited as a prominent example of medical concerns within the detention system.

Official responses and media coverage

• DHS and ICE initially denied reports of the hunger strike, with official channels calling them “fake news” and “inaccurate accusations.”
• Social media posts insisted: “No detainees are on hunger strike at Alligator Alcatraz.”
• Tricia McLaughlin, identified as a DHS spokesperson, dismissed Concepción’s hunger strike as “lies concocted by a criminal,” the report said.
• The report states acknowledgment followed media pressure, alongside ambulance runs and transfers from the Everglades site to Krome.

Broader enforcement context in 2025

The report placed Concepción’s detention within a larger enforcement escalation in 2025, described as a Trump-DeSantis collaboration:

• Florida recorded over 10,000 arrests by mid-year as part of 60,000 nationwide.
• Scrutiny intensified for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans through expedited removal.
• Changes cited included Cuban Adjustment Act repeals and parole revocations, leaving some migrants in limbo.
• Some people previously denied deportation by Cuba later faced recurrent holds despite completed sentences; Concepción was among those pulled back into detention after past convictions (drug-related offenses and credit card fraud that revoked his permanent residency).

The report also said hunger strikes recurred at sites including Krome and Eloy, and described 2025 as an escalation year with “20+ incidents” amid detainee deaths and campaigns under the banner #ShutDownAlligator.

Legal, advocacy, and political fallout

• Activists and the Florida Immigrant Coalition documented conditions and rallied for closure or oversight.
• Lawmakers called for hearings and pointed to the June 2025 death of 75-year-old Cuban Isidro Pérez, attributing it to medical neglect (the report provided no additional details).
• Congressional Democrats pushed oversight bills that stalled amid Republican majorities; as of January 2026, no major policy shifts had emerged.

A Florida Immigrant Coalition spokesperson said: “When people risk their lives, something is very wrong.”

Facility profiles: Krome and processing operations

• Krome Service Processing Center (Miami-area) was described as a facility used for transfers and asylum processing; Concepción was held there after transfer.
• Alligator Alcatraz operated as a “rapid-response” processing hub, moving detainees quickly even as protests and lawsuits accumulated.

Data and figures cited

The report included several figures it said illustrated the broader detention and enforcement footprint:

• Average stays: 3–6 months
• National backlog: 3M+ cases
• Custody fatalities nationwide in 2025: 15+
• Bond hearings: now average 90 days
• ICE attacks on staff: up 830% (the report did not detail the calculation)

Practical advice and advocacy resources

The report said advocates encouraged families of detainees to document interactions and seek legal help. It cited the following contact lines:

• ICE Detention Reporting Line: 1-888-351-4024
• DHS OIG hotline: 1-800-323-8603

It also referenced the use of FOIA requests to verify information.

Personal and family impact

Concepción’s case highlighted the strain on families as detentions stretched on:

• Children asked, “Why doesn’t Papa eat?” as parents navigated silence from ICE.
• Cuban communities described rising anxiety over “check-in traps” that turned routine visits into detentions.
• Hernández asked, “If you made a mistake and paid for it, why does it continue to haunt you after all these years?” reflecting broader fears about ongoing separation.

The report framed Concepción’s hunger strike as a turning point that forced authorities’ acknowledgment but did not quickly translate into freedom. The line he voiced—“Since ICE controls my life, it’s up to them to decide whether I live or die”—was presented as resonant beyond his individual case amid ongoing lawsuits, protests, and family fears about Florida’s expanding detention operations.