A migrant rights group has accused the administration of US President Donald Trump of concealing a hunger strike at a newly opened immigration detention centre in the Florida Everglades.
Detainees at the facility, nicknamed "Alligator Alcatraz," have been refusing food for nearly two weeks, according to the Florida Immigrant Coalition (FLIC).
"We don't have to assume that that's happening because we see ambulances, because the family members are telling us, the detainees themselves have gone on record on various publications," FLIC representative Thomas Kennedy told dpa.
The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on Monday rejected the reports as "FAKE NEWS" in a post on X, writing: "There is NO hunger strike." Broadcaster CNN also quoted the agency as saying that detainees receive three meals a day, as well as access to water and other drinks.
Kennedy, however, said that several detainees had been hospitalized and called the government's denial a "weird and easily disprovable lie."
"The DHS is saying that a hunger strike is not taking place, when the detainees themselves are saying, we are on hunger strike," he added.
Last week, Kennedy published videos showing ambulances leaving the facility and said about a dozen men were involved in the protest.
At least one Cuban migrant and his wife told NBC News and Spanish newspaper El País that he was refusing food in protest and had been taken to hospital.
CNN had previously reported on poor conditions at the site, citing relatives and Democratic politicians. They described extreme heat, broken toilets and a lack of clean water, food, or legal counsel, allegations that the US administration rejects.
Trump inaugurated the facility in late June. The centre is designed to house thousands of migrants awaiting deportation as part of Trump's mass deportation strategy.
