'Alligator Alcatraz' detainee who faced 'total nightmare' while in custody fights to return home to Venezuela

Source: Scripps News

Posted 8:07 AM, Aug 30, 2025 and last updated 8:50 AM, Aug 30, 2025


A Venezuelan man who was the subject of a high-profile health scare at Alligator Alcatraz this month aimed to return to his home country on Friday, his lawyer said.

This comes as a federal judge denied requests from both state and federal governments to pause the order to dismantle the immigration detention facility in the Everglades, and as the Scripps News Group has learned that detainees were already being removed from the facility, even before last week's court order was issued.

Lawyers and court documents reveal that some detainees are being deported while others are being transferred to ICE facilities like Krome in Miami-Dade County. One immigration attorney said he has "never worked so hard to get a client deported" after his client experienced what he described as a life-threatening situation at the facility.

"I've practiced immigration law for over a decade. I deal with a lot of terrible situations of detainees. I've never experienced anything as terrible as the life-or-death situation, which my client still finds himself in," said attorney Eric Lee.

Read more: https://www.scrippsnews.com/alligator-alcatraz-detainee-who-faced-total-nightmare-while-in-custody-fights-to-return-home-to-venezuela