Rome
CNN
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According to the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the two Italian citizens of the United States are among the prisoners currently in custody at an ice detention center known as the “Wannial Catraz” in Florida.
Fernando Eduardo Artes, 63, and Gaetano Cateno Mirabella Costa, 45, were both sent to facilities and are allegedly surrounded by crocodiles for immigration violations. The Italian Foreign Ministry confirmed with CNN that the two men were detained in the US, but did not provide further details, citing reasons for privacy.
The Italian government, led by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, has not commented publicly on the terms and conditions that people are kept in controversial facilities. In 2024, Italy built a deportation center in Albania. This was ultimately blocked by the court due to questions about human rights issues.
Italian opposition politician and House Speaker Laura Bordrini has made major calls for intervention by Meloni and her Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani. “Is this all normal and acceptable for Giorgia Meloni? What is she going to do to drive two Italians out of that hell? If they don’t have the right to stay in the US, they will be repatriated, but it is not acceptable to be exposed to these brutal conditions.” Questions during the Congressional session on potential interventions were also unanswered.
The US Department of Homeland Security has confirmed that both men are being detained at a makeshift facility in the Florida Everglades. “Both these criminal illegal aliens are detained in Wannial Catraz. Under President (Donald) Trump and Secretary (Christa) Noem, if you break the law, you face consequences. Criminal illegal aliens are not welcome in the United States.”
Artes’ daughter Cara Artes says her father, a double Italian Aligenninia citizen who worked as a security camera technician, has been legally living in the United States since 2018 under the visa waiver program.
Fearing that a new clampdown would lead to his arrest, Artes decided to be repatriated to Europe later this year, his daughter said.
Artes was stopped on June 25th while driving with his family in a camper. He was planning to leave the US and drive to Argentina. The family had planned to document their journey on a YouTube channel called “Argentino Maids,” according to Cara Artes, who plans to start university in Spain, born in the fall.
However, her father stopped during a regular traffic stop and found an unresolved warrant that officers had not appeared in court for driving violations, Carla Artes said. He was then taken into custody and sent to “Wannial Catraz” a week later.
DHS said Artese continued the visa for 10 years. “He participated in the visa waiver program on February 8, 2015 and was permitted to remain in the country until May 7, 2015. On June 26, 2025, the Martin County Sheriff’s Office arrested Artes for having an unpaid warrant related to his failure to appear in court for a criminal offence.
“This year we were about to leave America. Ice took him and sent him to Crocodile Alcatraz, where they treated them like criminals and have no rights,” Carla Arteze wrote on the fundraising page. “They don’t give him any information about his case or his rights to lawyers. Needless to say, they haven’t added him to the system yet, so he doesn’t look like an inmate anywhere. He wants to self-deny when he’s forgiven him.”
The money raised is to help the lawyer release his father.
“He’s a loving husband and dad. He’s been providing to all of us since day one. He’s the father figure to me and many of my friends. He’s a hard worker who wanted to leave the country with his family after paying taxes and working hard the whole time he was here!”
In an interview with the Tampa Bay Times earlier this month, Artes described the “Alligator Alcatraz” as a “concentration camp.” “They treat us like criminals. It’s a pursuit of humiliation. We are all workers and people fighting for our families.”
Meanwhile, Mirabra Costa spoke over the weekend with Italian provincial broadcaster Rai over the phone, explaining the dire situation.
“We’re literally caged like a chicken coop. There are 32 people in the cage. The bathroom is open and everyone is looking at you,” he said. “I don’t even have the opportunity to talk to lawyers or judges. Take us out of this nightmare.”
Mirabella Costa served six months in prison for domestic violence against his American ex-wife and possession of prescription drugs, and was arrested at the time of his release by ICE staff for violating immigration laws, he told an Italian outlet.
According to DHS, Costa has been on a B2 visa for nearly seven years and says that “criminal history includes battery arrests of a person over the age of 65, possession of a controlled substance and possession of marijuana.”
His mother, Rosanna Mirabella Costa, told Rye that her son was taken to a preliminary hearing by “bondage and bondage to his legs like a dog.”
The Italian Consulate in Miami confirmed to CNN that it is working with the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. This has been in contact with family members who have been detained but were unable to share details.
