The calls came in from all over the world—France, Illinois, and nearby Miami—as people with family and friends at one of the country’s most infamous immigration detention centers dialed the one number they trusted to get help: 911.
Again and again, confused and desperate family members, unsure how to reach Alligator Alcatraz, called and were connected to the Collier County Sheriff’s Office for help with their loved ones held in tents and cages in the Florida Everglades.
“A security guard called me today to tell me that the father of my children had a cardiac arrest and can not feel his arm at all,” a Miami-Dade woman seeking care for a 41-year-old detainee told a dispatcher…