Florida lawmakers, members of Congress invited to visit Alligator Alcatraz
The invitation, sent Wednesday, is the first extended to elected leaders since the facility began taking in immigrant detainees on July 2. Five Democratic state lawmakers tried to enter the Everglades site during an unannounced visit on July 3, but were denied access by state officials who cited 'safety concerns.'
Lawmakers said denying them access to the site may run afoul of a Florida law, which says members of the Legislature are allowed to 'visit at their pleasure all state correctional institutions.' State officials said Monday that the legal authority cited by the legislators did not apply to Alligator Alcatraz because the site – expected to eventually hold 3,000 or more migrants – is not considered a 'state correctional institution' under state law.
'We're glad to see public pressure forcing the State of Florida to open its doors for a scheduled tour of the Everglades Detention Center. But let's be clear: this isn't a field trip — it's oversight,' state Rep. Anna Eskamani, D-Orlando, said in a statement Wednesday.
The makeshift detention facility was built in eight days on top of a remote runway owned by Miami-Dade County off of U.S. Highway 41. Using emergency powers, the DeSantis administration took control of the property and set up trailers and heavy-duty tents, where hundreds of immigrant detainees are now being held. President Donald Trump and Gov. Ron DeSantis visited the site last week and touted it as a needed space to help house migrants caught up in the president's mass-deportation campaign.
In the first full week of operations, the Miami Herald found that detainees were reporting issues with the facility's toilets and showers and problems with the air-conditioning inside the tents where detainees are living. They also complained about having no access to confidential calls with their attorneys. One detainee was also taken to a nearby hospital for treatment, an incident the state initially described as 'fake news.'
The stories, relayed to Herald by the wives of the immigrant detainees, were the first snapshots of the conditions inside the newly opened facility, which the state is responsible for operating.
A day after the Herald report, the state Division of Emergency Management sent out an email inviting elected leaders to visit the site on Saturday. Lawmakers who want to go will need to confirm their attendance by noon on Friday.
'Staff and other visitors will not be permitted,' the email states.
It is not yet clear how many lawmakers will make the trip down to the Everglades to visit the site. So far at least one Miami lawmaker intends to go.
'Yes, I will be going,' Sen. Shevrin Jones, D-Miami Gardens, said.
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