Gaetano Mirabella Costa, a 45-year-old Italian man detained in the Florida Everglades migrant facility nicknamed “Alligator Alcatraz,” has issued a desperate appeal: “Get us out of this nightmare.” Speaking from the center to Italian broadcaster Tg2, the Sicilian native from Fiumefreddo described inhumane conditions. “We are literally in a cage, like a chicken coop. There are 32 of us in one cage, the toilets are open and everyone can see you,” he stated.
Mirabella Costa, arrested for assault and drug possession following domestic violence allegations by his American ex-wife, claimed he was denied legal access. “I don’t even have the chance to speak to a lawyer or a judge,” he added. He alleges that after six months in jail, he should have been released on July 9th, but a state prosecutor blocked it citing immigration violations. He has now been held for eight days at Alligator Alcatraz, a facility championed by former President Donald Trump as part of his crackdown on illegal immigration.
His mother, Rosanna Mirabella Costa, tearfully told Tg2 her son was brought to a hearing “with chains on his feet and hands, like a dog,” noting the only positive was his limited phone access. The Italian Foreign Ministry, via its Miami Consulate and Washington Embassy, is engaged with U.S. authorities on his case and that of a second Italian detainee—63-year-old Italo-Argentine Fernando Eduardo Artese. Repatriation could take days.
Artese, arrested in late June before a planned trip to Argentina and detained at the center since July 3rd, echoed the dire conditions. “It’s a concentration camp. They treat us like criminals,” he told the Tampa Bay Times. The hastily built facility, constructed in just eight days on a disused Florida airstrip amidst alligator-infested swamps, holds up to 5,000 people at an estimated annual cost of $450 million. The Trump administration promotes it as a model for other states and is reportedly considering reopening the original Alcatraz prison at a potential cost of $2 billion.