MEXICO CITY

The Mexican Consulate in the US state of Florida said the number of Mexican nationals detained Friday at the infamous immigration detention center known as Alligator Alcatraz has grown to 78.

The Mexican government confirmed last month that 14 were inside the 30-square-mile detention center in the Everglades.

Mexican Consul General Rutilio Escandon in Miami said the embassy had communicated with 14 of 78 migrants.

“They are in good condition. We listened to their needs and requested that their human rights be respected," he said.

Alligator Alcatraz has drawn domestic and international condemnation for the dehumanizing treatment of imprisoned immigrants since it began operations July 3.

The federal detention center was ordered by President Donald Trump as part of his so-called crackdown on undocumented immigrants. The center was dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz” because local wildlife, including alligators and crocodiles, reportedly serve to deter migrants from escaping.

"We're surrounded by miles of treacherous swampland, and the only way out is, really, deportation," Trump said during his visit to the center in July.

Federal Judge Kathleen Williams ordered Florida and the federal government on Aug. 21 to cease detaining immigrants at the facility and halt all construction. Overall operations are to wind down within the next 60 days.

The ruling favored activist groups, including Friends of the Everglades, the Center for Biological Diversity and the Miccosukee Tribe, who argued that the center’s construction and operation posed a threat to the local environment.

But Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis responded. “This is not going to deter us. We’re going to continue working on the deportations, advancing that mission,” he said Friday.

“You have people that are in this country who have already been ordered to be removed by the current system, and yet the previous administration didn’t want to do anything about it,” he added.

The Mexican Embassy in the US has denounced that individuals transiting legally through the country have also been taken to Alligator Alcatraz, such as brothers Carlos and Martín Gonzalez, who were in the US on tourist visas.