"Immediate action was taken to separate and remove the detainee in accordance with federal protocols," said Stephanie Hartman, a spokeswoman for the Florida Division of Emergency Management, which oversees the site.

In the rush to open a detention camp in the Florida Everglades for “some of the most vicious” migrants illegally in the country, state and federal officers detained a 15-year-old boy with no criminal record and sent him in handcuffs to Alligator Alcatraz, the Miami Herald and Tampa Bay Times have learned.

Several immigrant detainees described high tension and anxiety at the remote, hastily constructed facility over a lack of information, recreation and access to medication.