Two guards at Florida’s controversial immigration detention center known as “Alligator Alcatraz” are accused of battery, according to recent court filings.
Andre Junior Seenaraine and Stephen Jordan Trejos are accused of committing battery against a Hispanic male detainee on or around Jan. 25, according to Collier County court records. The records do not provide further details about the alleged encounter.
Recommended Stories
The Everglades detention center, formerly known as the South Florida Reception Center, was shut down in the spring after concerns that its tented facilities would not withstand hurricane season. The facility had faced criticism from immigrant advocacy groups and civil rights organizations, which argued that its temporary structures were unsafe and unsuitable for long-term detention.
The center opened in July 2025 as part of Florida’s effort to assist the federal government with immigration enforcement. It was granted the nickname of “Alligator Alcatraz” because of the more than 200,000 alligators believed to inhabit the surrounding swampland. The facility was built on an almost entirely abandoned airfield in the Everglades.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) defended the facility as an emergency response to the Biden administration’s immigration policies.
“The Biden border crisis caused an emergency,” DeSantis said. “When it comes to emergency management, Florida is second to none. The success of Alligator Alcatraz demonstrated our state’s leadership in launching critical infrastructure, surging resources, and managing complex operations.”
DeSantis has maintained that the facility was never intended to be permanent, saying officials initially expected the need for the center to last between six months and a year.
INSIDE THE LEFTIST NETWORK WORKING TO SABOTAGE TRUMP’S DC PROSECUTIONS
“I think when we did it, we thought that it would be six months to a year in terms of the necessity of it,” he said.
The facility was also the subject of protests and several lawsuits. Environmental groups and a tribal organization challenged its construction, arguing that the project required environmental review because of its location in a sensitive wetland area, but an appeals court ruled in favor of the facility, allowing it to remain open until its permanent closure in June.
