South Florida man held in Everglades ICE facility pleads for deportation

A South Florida man held at a controversial immigration detention center in the Everglades is asking to be deported, citing harsh living conditions that human rights observers say raise serious concerns.

Alexis Rodriguez, a 59-year-old Cuban national, has been detained at the South Florida Immigration Review Center—known colloquially as “Alligator Alcatraz”—since early November. His wife, Magda Berge, said Rodriguez was picked up during a routine check-in at the Miramar ICE office, a process he had followed without incident for more than two decades.

Federal officials informed Rodriguez during his November 5 appointment that they would begin executing a longstanding deportation order. According to federal records, Rodriguez was convicted of cocaine trafficking and smuggling in the late 1990s and served a two-year federal sentence.

Berge said her husband has long since paid his debt and built a life in the U.S., and she remains concerned about his health deteriorating inside the facility. He is diabetic and told CBS News Miami he recently stopped taking medication due to the poor conditions.

In a phone call from detention, Rodriguez told a reporter in Spanish, “The only thing I am asking for is to allow me to leave this country.”

Rodriguez described the facility as overcrowded and unsanitary. He said 32 detainees are sharing three bathrooms placed near their sleeping quarters. He also claimed that showers are limited to once every three days, meals arrive cold and in small portions, and insects and poor lighting are constant issues. The facility, located in a remote stretch of the Everglades, has drawn the attention of global human rights organizations.

A recent 61-page report from Amnesty International highlighted similar concerns from other immigrant detainees who previously spent time at the facility. The report included descriptions of overflowing toilets, exposure to insects, lack of access to clean water, and lights left on overnight with no privacy.

The Florida Division of Emergency Management, which oversees the center, dismissed the allegations. Molly Best, press secretary for the Executive Office of the Governor, called the report “a politically motivated attack” and stated, “None of these fabrications are true.”

Rodriguez is one of several detained immigrants whose cases have become more visible through ICE’s newly launched public database listing individuals with prior convictions. While ICE retains legal custody of detainees, the decision to accept deportees ultimately lies with their home governments.

For now, Berge is speaking publicly to raise awareness of her husband’s situation. “Obviously we want people to hear what we’re experiencing, because it’s really bad,” she said.

The conditions at the South Florida Immigration Review Center continue to draw criticism, as families like the Rodriguezes wait for answers amid legal uncertainty and growing public scrutiny.