Canadian man detained at 'Alligator Alcatraz' gets deported: 'Good to be back'
· Toronto Sun
A 61-year-old grandfather has returned to Canada after being detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and sent to the infamous Alligator Alcatraz in Florida.
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On Wednesday, Douglas Dixon arrived at Pearson International Airport via an American Airlines flight from Miami. He had been living at Alligator Alcatraz since ICE agents detained him on Feb. 10 as he checked in with his probation officer over his tax evasion conviction.
Before being held, Dixon had lived in the United States for more than two decades on a Green card.
“It’s good to be back in Canada,” Dixon said in an interview with CP24, adding his stance on his once-adopted home has changed.
“I did not think the United States was going to treat people inhumanely,” he said. “They do not care about the human condition inside those detention centres.”
Man pleaded no contest to tax evasion
Originally from Montreal, Dixon moved to Florida’s Gulf Coast to raise his family.
The COVID-19 pandemic forced the grandfather to close down his venture, Tropical Smoothie Cafe, in Port Charlotte. Dixon told CTV News he fell behind on tax filings, owing more than US$30,000 with interest.
Dixon pleaded no contest to tax evasion in 2022 and agreed to a monthly repayment plan. He said he has paid back two-thirds of the amount over the last three years, but still owes about $12,000 to the American government.
Prior to his arrest, Dixon was delivering food for DoorDash.
While checking in with his probation officer on Feb. 10, Dixon told CTV News he was arrested by ICE agents, who pushed him up on a wall, placing him in handcuffs and shackles.
“I was dumbfounded,” said Dixon. “I thought I was just going to a regular appointment.”
Locked in communal ‘cage’
The man was one of 18 people detained at the probation office. They were taken to Alligator Alcatraz in the Florida Everglades.
At the facility, Dixon called his daughter, who wrote down her father’s immigration number so she could track his whereabouts while in detention.
Dixon said he was given a pair of underwear, flip-flops, and an orange jumpsuit to wear upon arrival. He was then fingerprinted and given a colour-coded bracelet — a yellow one, which meant he was scheduled for a hearing.
He was then locked in a communal metal cell with 16 bunk beds for 32 men, two urinals and a toilet. Dixon called the cell a “cage.”
He was given three meals a day, allowed to shower three days after he arrived, and had one hour of yard time every four days.
Dixon told CTV News the facility was freezing cold and he was unable to sleep thanks to noise and disruption. After nine days at Alligator Alcatraz, Dixon was told he was being transferred to a smaller facility in Clewiston, Fla.
However, he got sick before the transfer, subsequently being moved to the Glades County Detention Centre in Moore Haven,. Fla., where he was diagnosed with a urinary tract infection and given antibiotics.
His hopes to stay in U.S. dashed
In late March, Dixon attended an immigration hearing, where his lawyer presented 14 letters from friends who vouched for his character. However, the hearing was over in minutes and a judge ordered Dixon to be deported back to Canada, receiving a lifetime ban from the United States.
Overall, Dixon was detained for 65 days.
Dixon didn’t have a chance to say goodbye to any family members when he was transported to Miami International Airport by ICE.
The man told CP24 he will move in with his sister and her family in Montreal. Dixon’s wife, Jo Ann Collison, said she will need to pack up their life in Florida before returning to Montreal to be with her husband.
Since Oct. 1, U.S. Customs and Border Protection data shows 32 Canadians were among the more than 71,400 migrants deported.
For Dixon, defrauding the government of more than $10,000 in revenue is considered “an aggravated felony” under American immigration law, per CTV News .