At least 249 Guatemalan immigrants are held at the Aligator Alcatraz detention center located in Florida, United States, waiting to be deported, the Guatemala government recently reported.
The Guatemalan Ministry of Foreign Affairs explained that the figure was formalized by US authorities to diplomats from the Central American country in Miami, when visiting the center, where they had the opportunity to interview 37 nationals.
«The Guatemalans with whom he talked indicated that they have been in the detention center and that they have been able to communicate with relatives and lawyers. Most of them were arrested for their irregular immigration situation, ”said the Foreign Ministry.
According to the same source, another visit was authorized soon from the Guatemalan diplomats to meet again with other nationals held in the detention center located in Florida.
Aligator Alcatraz, opened just over a month ago, was built in a single week in an abandoned airport between the Everglades, a natural area west of Miami, surrounded by caimanes and swamps, so the governor of Florida, Ron Desantis, sees it as an example for other centers while activists consider it the icon of violations of rights.
Democratic legislators reported the existence of 750 “cages” immigrants after entering July 12 to the site, with a current capacity for 2,000 people that would rise to 4,000, according to the Florida Emergency Management Division (FDEM), in charge of the place.
Each year, thousands of Guatemalans leave the Central American country to irregularly emigrate to the United States in search of better living conditions and to flee the poverty and violence that hit Guatemala.
According to the Foreign Ministry calculations, there are about three million Guatemalans in the United States, most irregularly.
