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🇲🇽 Mexico /Crime & Justice

Former guards at Florida’s ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ accused of assaulting Cuban migrant; they plead not guilty

From El Universal · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources In the courts
  • Two former guards at a controversial Florida migrant detention center face misdemeanor assault charges over an alleged attack on a Cuban detainee.
  • The detainee’s lawyer said he arrived at another facility with blood on his uniform, a bandaged hand and a bruised eye, while the defense said security footage showed a control maneuver after he allegedly spat at a guard.
  • The guards were released after posting $1,000 bail, and the cases remain open.

Two former guards at Florida’s controversial migrant detention center known as “Alligator Alcatraz” face charges over the alleged assault of a Cuban detainee. Both men, Stephen Trejos and Andre Seenaraine, pleaded not guilty to first-degree misdemeanor assault charges linked to an incident on Jan. 25.

The facility, located in the Everglades, was closed in June. It acquired its popular nickname because of the swampy setting, a habitat for alligators and pythons.

Rigoberto Rodríguez Arce, 42, had been detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Dec. 9. After the alleged attack, officials transferred him to Camp East Montana, an immigration detention center near El Paso, Texas. Yaritssa Plasencia, Rodríguez’s lawyer, told WINK News that he arrived wearing a blood-stained uniform, with one hand bandaged and one eye bruised.

Frank Rivera, another detainee and a witness, said dozens of migrants had begun banging their handcuffs against metal benches to protest spending hours without food or water. Rivera alleged that Trejos lifted Rodríguez, threw him to the floor and began hitting him. He said Seenaraine later punched Rodríguez in the face in another part of the facility.

Trejos’ defense has sought dismissal of the case. In a motion cited by local media, it argued that security footage showed the guard using a control maneuver after Rodríguez allegedly spat at him. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigated the incident, and a Collier County judge authorized arrest warrants on June 24. Both defendants were released after posting $1,000 bail. Their cases remain pending. Human Rights Watch and the American Civil Liberties Union have documented allegations of beatings, medical neglect and unsanitary conditions in immigration detention centers during Donald Trump’s second term. The Department of Homeland Security has rejected those allegations and said detainees receive adequate care.

Decades of detainees began hitting their handcuffs against metal benches to protest having gone hours without receiving food or water.

· Frank RiveraA detainee and witness described the protest that preceded the alleged assault.
About this summary

Originally published by El Universal in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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