For months, immigrants held at the "Alligator Alcatraz" detention center in the Florida Everglades were locked in small, outdoor metal cages, some no bigger than a parking space. This isn't a claim from an advocacy group. It's the finding of the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) own Office of Inspector General (OIG), the agency's independent internal watchdog.

Investigators confirmed that between July 2025 and January 2026, 79 people were held in these roughly 18-square-foot enclosures for periods ranging from minutes to nearly two hours, at least once as punishment. DHS called them "calming areas." The OIG called the practice "unprecedented among detention facilities" and said it does not align with standards for humane treatment.

The cages weren't the only problem. The same investigation found the facility failed to meet basic standards for hygiene, medical care, food, and safety. Detainees said they went without needed medication, were allowed showers only three times a week in bug-infested facilities, and couldn't get clean drinking water.

The facility has since closed, but the people responsible for how it was run, and for what happens at the next facility like it, still need to answer for this. DHS has pointed to Florida as the operator of daily activities, even though federal dollars paid for it. That kind of shared authority shouldn't mean shared blame that nobody actually owns.

No one in government custody, regardless of their immigration status, should be locked in an outdoor cage for hours as a form of discipline or "calming." Sign the petition to demand a full accounting and lasting reforms, before another facility repeats what happened here.