An set up on the Scope Artwork Present in Miami offered by the human rights organisation Amnesty Worldwide highlights alleged “government-sanctioned abuses” on the infamous migrant-detention facility within the Everglades nicknamed Alligator Alcatraz.
Works by the artists Agua Dulce Gloriosa and Clarence James type a part of the Scope venture, generally known as Cruelty Is Their Level—However One other World is Attainable, which “invitations fairgoers to mirror, reply and enact change by signing a petition that calls for the closure of Alligator Alcatraz”, Amnesty says.
Cheryl Johnson, Amnesty Worldwide USA’s arts and artistic partnerships affiliate, says that by this collaboration, the artists and Amnesty are encouraging communities to “be taught extra, take motion and take part calling for the closure of Alligator Alcatraz”.
Miami-based Dulce Gloriosa is displaying Untitled (a hope is however a dream is however a plan but put to motion) (2025). The work, an altar surrounded by flowers, fruit, candles and mirrors, is “a love poem to the parents who’re detained”, the artist tells The Artwork Newspaper. “It’s an announcement of solidarity amongst extra consumerist art-fair experiences, a prayer for these with the privilege of US citizenship to take motion. And a agency grounding that these seen as simply discarded by our administration and society won’t be forgotten.”
Road artist James’s work, titled Cruelty is The Level (2025), is a collage of newspaper clippings, archival pictures and posters. He additionally invitations guests to take a zip-tie and fix it to a fence depicted within the work. “These parts collapse time, exposing how cruelty repeats itself by the centuries below new names and new uniforms, however a greater future is feasible,” James stated in an announcement. The works will not be on the market.
Amnesty alleges in an announcement posted on the Scope stand: “Since opening in July 2025, there was systematic denial of due course of on account of the [Alligator Alcatraz] facility not being served by any immigration courtroom, folks detained inside being ‘disappeared’ and fully untraceable, and firewalls towards lawyer entry.
“Studies of unsanitary situations have surfaced: swarms of mosquitoes, maggot-infested meals, sweltering warmth, lack of medical care or primary hygiene, resembling working showers and bathrooms. These horrendous situations are government-sanctioned abuses and so they’re being funded with Floridians’ taxpayer {dollars}.”
Florida officers introduced plans for the detention facility on the distant Dade-Collier Coaching and Transition Airport, positioned contained in the Large Cypress Nationwide Protect, in late June and moved rapidly to open it on 3 July. The complicated is the primary federal immigration jail to be run by a state company; Florida’s Division of Emergency Administration (FDEM) operates it in partnership with the US Division of Homeland Safety. The FDEM was contacted for remark concerning the Scope venture.
Amnesty additionally revealed a report on 4 December stating that migrants held on the state-run Everglades facility, and at Miami’s Krome detention centre, proceed to be uncovered to “merciless, inhuman and degrading therapy”.
Molly Finest, the press secretary to Florida’s governor, Ron DeSantis, advised The Guardian: “None of those fabrications are true. In reality, operating these allegations with none proof in anyway might jeopardise the protection and safety of our workers and people being housed at Alligator Alcatraz.”
