OCHOPEE, Fla. (WSVN) — A group of congressional and state legislative Democrats will be allowed to tour the Everglades migrant detention center known as “Alligator Alcatraz,” but they’re already raising concerns about whether state officials will allow them to see what it’s really like for those being held there.
Officials with the Florida Department of Emergency Management said they will be conducting the tour of the facility, built to hold roughly 5,000 detainees in the middle of Everglades swampland, for the contingent of Democratic state lawmakers on Saturday.
U.S. Reps. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Lois Frankel, Darren Soto, Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, Maxwell Alejandro Frost and Jared Moskowitz were invited to tour the facility.
The lawmakers, however, are calling foul, saying they were planning an unannounced visit to the facility on that day.
“I passed the federal law that requires when [United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement] detainees are held in a facility, members of Congress are entitled to an unannounced visit,” said Wasserman Schultz. “We’re going to see only what they want us to see. They don’t let you speak to the detainees. We’re going to demand to speak to the detainees.”
Wasserman Schultz said she has an idea as to why state officials extended the invitation.
“I assume that the state got word of [our unnnounced visit] and decided to do what is essentially going to be a sanitized, preplanned visit,” she said.
The invitation, obtained by 7News, states the tour will happend from 11 a.m. until 12:30 p.m. The lawmakers won’t be able to bring any staff or other visitors with them.
Wasserman Schultz believes that is not enough time.
“This visit is planned for an hour and a half. There’s no way that we’re going to able to thoroughly see everything we need to see and accomplish our goals of ensuring that the detainees are being treated humanely,” she said.
Wasserman Schultz said she also has concerns about what will be done in the event of a hurricane, as well as the effects that the sewage and housing will have on the environment.
This invitation to lawmakers comes after some attempted to view the facility before the Fourth of July weekend and were denied entry.
No other leaders have been allowed to enter “Alligator Alcatraz” since President Donald Trump’s visit last week.
“The facility will house some of the most menacing migrants, some of the most vicious people on the planet,” said Trump.
At the time, officials at the facility cited “safety concerns and ongoing inmate operations” as to why lawmakers were denied entry.
Five of these state lawmakers have since filed a lawsuit against Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, arguing that he overstepped his authority.
“The Florida Department of Emergency Management and the governor’s office broke the law,” said Florida State Rep. Shevrin Jones.
According to the court filing, when one of the state representatives cited Florida Statutes 944.23 and 951.225, which authorizes members of the Legislature to visit prisons, “She was advised that the statute was not applicable without further explanation.”
Even officials at the county level are trying to see what goes on at “Alligator Alcatraz.”
“We protested the environmental impact, and we are also concerned about the humanitarian aspects,” said Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava.
Levine Cava requested that the county have continued access to the site, as it is county-owned land.
“We’re seeing overpopulated detention centers right here in our community where immigrants, the vast majority of whom have committed no violent crimes, are kept in unsafe conditions,” she said. “That’s why I called on the state to give the county monitoring access to ‘Alligator Alcatraz.’ Immigration is not a crisis to be feared but an opportunity to be managed with compassion.”
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis was able to take control temporarily through emergency powers to build the detention center in about a week.
The mayor also told 7News she is requesting access for a tour as well.
“Unfortunately, we are sweeping people up without need, so I have asked for ongoing monitoring, not just one time,” she said. “I want to have weekly reports. I want to be able to have a small group that could go with some frequency to actually visit and monitor. And we also asked for monitoring video cameras.”
Levine Cava said she spoke with Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier on Tuesday and that she is going to follow up Thursday with Florida’s Division of Emergency Management.
“We protested the environmental impacts that such a facility would cause, and we are also concerned about the humanitarian aspects,” she said.
The Supreme Court has temporarily blocked a Florida law that bans undocumented immigrants from entering the state. The law will be kept on hold while legal challenges continue through the court system. DeSantis signed the measure into law in February in support of Trump’s push to crack down on illegal immigration.
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