A delegate at the Democratic National Committee’s summer meeting labeled a prominent immigration detention facility a “concentration camp” on Tuesday.
United States District Judge Kathleen Williams of the Southern District of Florida, an Obama appointee, ordered the shutdown of “Alligator Alcatraz,” a detention facility for illegal immigrants run by the state of Florida, Thursday, according to Forbes. A delegate from Florida, Millie Herrera, cited the ruling as she spoke on an amendment to a resolution.
WATCH:
“I’d also like to make comments about this. I refuse to call it Alligator Alcatraz, I think that it is insulting and disgusting and inhumane what they are doing to immigrants all over the country,” Herrera claimed after reading the proposed amendment. “This is a concentration camp. There have been several reports that people that are legal residents, even citizens detained without access to due process and their attorneys cannot visit them. There are 30 men to a cage with only three toilets; drinking water comes out the top of the toilet. They’re not allowed to bathe. It is the most incredible and cruel situation in a country where a lot of us, many of us, even from the first immigrants who came into the country from… England, we’re all immigrants except for the natives.”
“I think we need to call out this injustice and this persecution of people, and the only reason we are here is to improve our country and make sure that we contribute and our children have good lives,” Herrera continued. “This is just unbelievable to a lot of us that have experienced persecution and other countries that fled to the United States, thinking that we were protected here by our Constitution. So, we are all together in this and I, you know, really appreciate all your support and I’m getting emotional, sorry, the support that immigrants are receiving from our party, because the Democratic Party is the party of immigrants, the party of working class, the party of women, the party of LGBTQ, the party for everybody, so thank you and please offer this amendment.”
Environmental groups sued to block the facility, which the Trump administration approved in June following a suggestion by Republican Attorney General James Uthmeier of Florida.
Addressing illegal immigration has been a priority of the Trump administration, with President Donald Trump issuing several executive orders to address illegal immigration and border security, including one designating Mexican drug cartels, the Venezuelan prison gang Tren de Aragua (TdA) and the El Salvadoran prison gang MS-13 as foreign terrorist organizations upon taking office Jan. 20.
All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact [email protected].
