Her name is Lindsey.
NBC6 is only using her first name because she worries about her family’s privacy and possible online harassment.
“It’s inhumane the way that they’re keeping their residents,” she told NBC6.
Lindsey provided NBC6 documentation that shows she arrived at the so-called Alligator Alcatraz on July 6 and worked at the controversial detention center for about a week before she caught Covid and had to isolate.
From the beginning, she told NBC6 the situation was tough.
“When I got there, it was overwhelming,” she said. “I thought it would get better. But it just never did.”
Lindsey provided NBC6 with her State of Florida credential, which lists her position as a “corrections officer.”
She says she was told the job would be five days on, two days off.
Lindsey also provided a copy of her contract with GardaWorld Federal Services, a security company reportedly one of the vendors at “Alligator Alcatraz.”
A job posting on the company’s LinkedIn account shows they were hiring for the position a month ago and offered $26 an hour for the job.
“I was aware that it was going to be the Alligator Alcatraz,” said Lindsey, who added that while she knew she would be living in a shared trailer, she said the conditions were rough for everyone there.
“We had to use the porta-johns. We didn’t have hot water half the time. Our bathrooms were backed up,” she said.
NBC6 has reported similar accounts of conditions inside from advocates, detainees and their families.
When talking about the space where detainees are being held, Lindsey said it look like “an oversized kennel.”
She says each tent had eight large cages, which hold 35 to 38 inmates, which means each tent holds close to 300 detainees.
“They have no sunlight. There’s no clock in there. They don’t even know what time of the day it is. They have no access to showers. They shower every other day or every four days,” Lindsey said.
She added: “The bathrooms are backed up because you got so many people using them.”
On rainy days, she said, water pours into the tents. She described the conditions as miserable not to forget — the constant battle with mosquitos.
Of the people who are being detained, Lindsay said “not everybody there is a criminal.”
NBC News asked the state for a list of detainees at “Alligator Alcatraz” but has not received the list.
Last month, a Human Rights Watch report found that nearly 72% of people detained by Immigration Customs Enforcement had no criminal history.
“These people are still human. They pulled them from their livelihood. They’re scared. They don’t speak our language,” she said.
Lindsey said she was fired from the facility after she caught COVID; she said she was accused of “altering medical paperwork submitted to the company.”
She denied the allegations and said she’s coming forward because of what she saw.
“I was fired. And yeah, I’m pissed off. But more so than ever, like they’re doing wrong,” she said.
Lindsey tells NBC6 she was never paid for her work at the facility. The company, GardaWorld, did not answer our questions about Lindsey’s allegations and referred us to state authorities.
NBC6 contacted the Florida Division of Emergency Management Monday morning but have yet to hear back. The division has previously denied allegations of poor conditions at the facility. Despite multiple requests, NBC6 has not been given access to the area where detainees are held.
The Florida Department of Financial Services’ website shows GardaWorld Federal Services was awarded a close to $38 million contract for staffing services related to the facility. The contract was executed on Aug. 2, according to the agency’s website.
