(Ochopee) "I haven't seen sunlight in 14 days," says Luis Gonzalez, a 25-year-old Cuban detainee at the "Alcatraz of the Alligators," the new detention center for illegal immigrants built in Florida by the Trump administration.

The days are endless for the inmates of this center located in the hostile swamps of the Everglades, in the southeastern United States.

The cells, lit by permanently lit lamps, are windowless. There are no clocks or televisions to tell the time. For the prisoners, the concept of time no longer exists.

"Even an animal wouldn't be treated like this. It's torture," said Luis Gonzales, contacted by AFP by telephone from the center.

This detention center, with rows of bunk beds, locked in wire cages, under white canvas pavilions, was built at lightning speed on the ruins of a former airfield and opened at the beginning of July.

Some 3,000 places are planned there, according to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.

The White House and local authorities have nicknamed it the "Alcatraz of the Alligators," in reference to the former prison island in San Francisco that Donald Trump plans to reopen.

But the center, which has become a symbol of the Donald Trump administration's immigration policy, has sparked anger among environmental groups—the Everglades being a protected area—and human rights activists.

Treated “like murderers”

Luis Gonzalez arrived in the United States in 2022 and settled in Florida. He was released by authorities while his asylum application was reviewed.

But last month, his application was rejected. Immigration police came to arrest him.

He says he was chained for more than a day on a bus with other inmates before being taken to "the Alcatraz of alligators."

"They never let us out of the tents. And when they take us to the canteen, we have to put our hands on our heads as if we were murderers," the young man says.

Luis Gonzales shares a cell with about 30 other people. The space, which he calls a "chicken coop," is surrounded by barbed wire and is rarely cleaned.

The same goes for the three toilets shared by the inmates. He was not given deodorant or toothpaste and had not showered for a week at the time of the call with AFP.

The days are scorching hot, while the nights are so cold that the provided blankets do not keep the inmates warm. Swarms of mosquitoes invade the cells.

Hunger strike

Some inmates also denounced the lack of medical care.

Michael Borrego Fernandez, 35, complained of pain but was not treated until he began bleeding, according to his lawyers.

He had to be hospitalized and undergo emergency surgery for hemorrhoids.

Upon his return, he was not given antibiotics. His wounds became infected and he had to be hospitalized again.

Marcos Puig, 31, rebelled against the conditions of his detention.

Reached by phone from another center in Florida, where he is currently being held, he said he broke the toilet in his cell before a visit from senior officials, as a sign of protest.

He was then allegedly beaten and left on his knees for 12 hours in an area without cameras or air conditioning, before being transferred elsewhere.

Another inmate, Rafael Collado, 63, told his partner that he had attempted suicide twice and had gone on hunger strike, during a telephone conversation witnessed by AFP.

Contacted by AFP, the authorities of the "Alcatraz of alligators" did not respond.

"Completely illegal"

Lawyers and activists are demanding the closure of the Everglades detention center, which is the subject of two lawsuits.

One of the two complaints claims that the detainees are being deprived of lawyers and are being held without charge.

"There are people who have been here since they arrived and still haven't seen a judge. […] It's completely illegal," says Magdalena Cuprys, Luis Gonzalez's lawyer.

In addition, two environmental groups have filed a lawsuit, arguing that the center threatens the fragile ecosystem of the surrounding marshes and was built without environmental impact studies.

Last week, a federal judge ordered a 14-day suspension of all new construction in the center while she considers the case.