Consul Warns Mexicans Must Take ‘Extreme Precautions’ in Florida as ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ Leads to Diplomatic Tensions

Citing conditions and legal issues at Governor Ron DeSantis’ “Alligator Alcatraz” facility in the Everglades, a Mexican diplomat issued a stark warning to anyone from his country thinking of traveling to Florida.

“They should take precautions or not come to Florida,” Juan Sabines, the consul of Mexico in Orlando, told TPM in a conversation this week. “You should take extreme precautions when you come to Florida.” 

Speaking in Spanish during an interview Tuesday evening, Sabines said Mexicans visiting the state need to take care with “basic things” such as ensuring they are renting cars from legitimate locations, driving with a license, and carrying documentation at all times. Sabines’ concerns were based on a case he has been involved in where two brothers were brought to the detention camp. Mexican officials have said both brothers had valid documentation. 

“They will detain you here for anything,” Sabines said.

Sabines cited the steps DeSantis, a Republican, has taken in support of President Donald Trump’s mass deportation agenda. He also argued that the situation in Florida, specifically, goes beyond anything ordered by Trump. 

“It’s a state that has more risks than other states … including for people with visas,” he said. 

The measures taken by DeSantis include memoranda of agreement the governor ordered agencies to sign with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in February that task Florida officials with immigration enforcement. And, earlier this month, DeSantis opened a migrant detention camp he has dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz.” That facility, which is located in the Everglades swamplands, was built by the governor using his emergency powers. Florida is covering the reported $450 million annual cost, which state officials say they hope to have partly reimbursed by the federal government. TPM has previously reported that DeSantis’ office diverted disaster resources as the camp was quickly opened. After touring the facility earlier this month, Democrats raised alarms about the harsh conditions there. Detainees who have been released have also offered grim accounts of the facility. 

Sabines said the lack of “the right to a fair trial” at the detention camp is one of the reasons he is disturbed by the situation in Florida. Specifically, Sabines has been helping the father of the two brothers, Carlos Martín González, 26, and Óscar Alejandro, 30, who have been detained in the camp since earlier this month. According to Sabines, Carlos was here on a valid tourist visa while Óscar is married to a U.S. citizen. He said Carlos was initially stopped by police for driving a car with tinted windows that was unregistered. Sabines said the brothers’ father, Martín González, paid a fine related to the incident. 

“The two of them don’t want to stay in the U.S. These men already want to go to Mexico, but they won’t let them. And why? I don’t know,” Sabines said of the brothers, adding, “We don’t understand the reason they are still in prison. … It’s not the right way to do things.” 

DeSantis’ office did not respond to a request for comment. 

The concerns about Mexican detainees in “Alligator Alcatraz” have gone beyond the case of the Gonzalez brothers. On Tuesday, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum addressed a report from Human Rights Watch about “abusive practices” at migrant detention centers in Florida during her daily press conference. Sheinbaum said she believed 14 Mexican citizens were being held in these detention centers. She further said Mexican officials are reviewing whether “human rights violations” had been committed at “Alligator Alcatraz” and indicated her government would consider filing complaints if this was found to have occurred. 

“What we are insisting is that, when people are detained, they are repatriated immediately,” Sheinbaum said. 

Sheinbaum’s office did not respond to a request for comment from TPM. The White House referred all questions about the operation of “Alligator Alcatraz” to DeSantis’ office and the Department of Homeland Security, which did not respond to a request for comment. A White House spokesperson did not answer questions about whether the president was in communication with Sheinbaum about the repatriation of Mexican detainees.

The Mexican government has helped the Gonzalez family obtain an American lawyer, Andrea Reyes, who did not respond to a request for comment on this story. While the family has legal and diplomatic support, Sabines said the brothers have not had any access to these resources because “Alligator Alcatraz” is a “limbo” that exists between state and federal authority.

“As human beings we all have, in most of the world where there is democracy, where there is liberty, you have the right to a trial, to a judge, you have the right to a lawyer. Not in this case,” Sabines said. “Over there in ‘Alcatraz,’ the two Mexicans whose case I am looking at have a lawyer, but their attorney doesn’t have access to the file. They don’t have access to the case, they don’t have an alien number, they don’t have a case number.”

American lawyers have previously raised similar concerns they are unable to track and effectively represent detainees in “Alligator Alcatraz” because of the lack of an “alien number,” which is typically issued to people in ICE custody. The Miami Herald spoke to attorneys who have said they are struggling to even find phone numbers and emails associated with the site. 

“It doesn’t exist. There’s no immigration judge there. We don’t have anyone to stand in front of,” Sabines said, adding, “They don’t have a right to a fair trial at the moment or the right to an attorney.”

Sabines further suggested that he understood Mexican diplomats’ inability to make contact with the brothers to be a violation of international agreements. 

“This has never occurred before. … We are regulated by the Vienna Convention, the consular regulations, and we have a consular convention between the U.S. and Mexico. Through the agreements between both countries, our nationals have the right to consular assistance and legal assistance,” said Sabines. 

Sabines stressed that, in his experience, the situation was unprecedented.

“This is something we’ve never seen, not in the United States and not in Mexico,” Sabines said. “I don’t know if there are other countries where something like this exists, where there is some other type of government that’s not democratic, but here we have never seen this.”

According to Sabines, Mexican officials are demanding to be able to have contact with the brothers, for them to be able to meet with their attorney, and for her to have access to their case file. 

“No one has had access,” Sabines explained. “The only thing they have given them the right to is a daily call to their father.” 

Based on those conversations, the father of the two men has told Spanish language media outlets the conditions in the facility are “really bad.”

“His children have said to him that it’s like a chicken coop … that the lights are always on and they don’t know if it’s day or night,” Sabines said.

Sabines said the situation was particularly disturbing given the high number of legal Mexican workers in Florida and the extensive commercial relationship his country has with the state.

“Mexico is a business partner with Florida,” Sabines said, adding, “We buy many things from Florida; milk, cream, car parts, medicines. We are a good customer for Florida and they are not treating us like business partners or like family.” 

For his part, Sabines said Mexican consular officials regularly met with DeSantis’ predecessor, now-U.S. Senator Rick Scott (R). However, he said that situation changed after DeSantis first assumed office in 2019. 

“We have tried to talk to the governor many times,” Sabines said. “Before, yes, we met with Governor Scott numerous times, but with Governor DeSantis, we haven’t been able to do it.”

Throughout the conversation, Sabines stressed that he believes the risk to immigrants and Mexicans in Florida is beyond anything elsewhere in the U.S. He also pointed to the fact DeSantis has discussed plans for a second detention facility near Jacksonville. Overall, Sabines said Mexican officials are “very worried” about the situation. 

“I am not complaining about the U.S. I respect the initiatives of President Trump. He has every right to have made the decisions he has. The people voted for him, right? I understand it,” Sabines said. “But here, it’s been excessive. … This prison is something we never would have expected.”