The disasters of the Trump regime grow by the day both within the borders of the United States and throughout the world. One of our readers responded last week to Debra’s comments on the U.S. military attack in the Caribbean killing 11 people in the small boat, “The U.S. force might as well have been flying a black flag decorated with a skull and cross-bones.”
Global vigils to Close Guantanamo Now continue the first Wednesday of every month; next is October 1.
We share a excerpts from message written by Mansoor Adayfi, former Guantanamo prisoner, to Alligator Alcatraz current and future prisoners. He notes that while, due to a judge’s orders, Alligator Alcatraz may close, plans are underway to build similar prisons around the country. Read the whole piece here.
I remember DeSantis’ smirk as I sat shackled in the force-feeding chair. Pepper spray burning my skin. Tubes shoved down my throat. Blood running from my nose and mouth. I remember the cruelty that happened while DeSantis was there. So did another detainee, Fayez al-Kandari, who tweeted in 2022: “Ron DeSantis… participated in the torture of hunger strikers…
Now, under DeSantis’ leadership, Florida built and operates a large migrant detention camp in the Everglades known as Alligator Alcatraz. My stomach went into knots when I watched DeSantis, U.S. President Donald Trump, and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem celebrate its opening in June. What they unveiled was little more than the grotesque spectacle of Guantánamo repackaged. Trump mocked the migrants like they were nothing, stripping away their humanity. His laughter sent my mind reeling back to the cages…
The same venom they spat at us after 9/11 now drenches migrants and refugees. At Guantánamo, we were “enemy combatants,” “hardened terrorists,” “the worst of the worst.” At Alligator Alcatraz, they are “illegal aliens,” “criminals,” “invaders.” The labels change. The purpose does not. Strip away humanity so cruelty can rule unchecked…
Like Guantanamo, Alligator Alcatraz is a machine built to break people. Remote. Hard to reach. Hard to see. Hard to scrutinize. No cameras. No names…
To everyone trapped in ICE’s detention centers, Alligator Alcatraz and the rest of this monstrous U.S. detention apparatus—especially those starving in hunger strikes—listen up.
You are not trash. You are not numbers on a cold spreadsheet. You are human. Do not let them erase you. Do not let them turn your life into data. Make them remember what it means to be human…