3/11/26

Post by Valerie Carlisle

It’s been a week since I’ve returned from Florida where I stood outside the Everglades Detention Center AKA "Alligator Alcatraz” with Witness at the Border. We came from all over the country and also joined with local activists in their weekly vigil. We went to see and be seen, to raise a protest: THIS IS A CONCENTRATION CAMP, FREE THEM, SHUT IT DOWN. The haunting thought is if no one watches, are we all complicit? Witnessing is a subtle yet profound experience.

What did we see after days in the hot sun? Not much of the facility itself that is so shrouded in secrecy, but we saw ambulances leaving, buses with windows darkly tinted, lots of workers, law enforcement with various dispositions, tourists taking selfies with the sign as if concentration camps were America’s newest and best attraction, and of course, alligators. The fact that journalists, and few others, are not allowed into any of the concentration camps around the country creates an “empathy gap”, what people don’t see, people don’t care about. But I challenge you to Google “Alligator Alcatraz”, “East Montana”, “Deaths in Detention Centers” and you can read more than you would want to know.