Alligator Alcatraz , Florida's secretive new immigration detention center, has already drawn scrutiny over claims of inhumane conditions, questions about its legal authority, and recently, allegations about an "outbreak of a serious illness" inside the facility.

But if an infectious disease like, say, COVID-19, is spreading among detainees at the remote site, the state refuses to say so.

On August 7, attorneys Eric Lee and Chris Godshall-Bennet issued a statement on behalf of their client, 38-year-old Venezuelan Luis Manuel Rivas Velásquez , who they say recently suffered a "serious health emergency" while being held at the hastily constructed detention center. According to the statement, Rivas Velasquez, who was previously in good health, collapsed while sitting inside a tent at

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