A group of Democratic state legislators said Thursday they were denied entry to "Alligator Alcatraz," the immigration detention center in the Everglades that opened this week.
"This is a blatant abuse of power and an attempt to conceal human rights violations from the public eye," the legislators alleged in a joint statement. "If the facility is unsafe for elected officials to enter, then how can it possibly be safe for those being detained inside?"
State Sens. Shevrin Jones, of Miami Garden, and Carlos Guillermo Smith, of Orlando, along with state Reps. Anna Eskamani, of Orlando, Angie Nixon, of Jacksonville, and Michele Rayner, of St. Petersburg, said they were "illegally" denied access to the facility off Tamiami Trail in Ochopee.
They said state officials flatly denied them entry when they arrived and later, when pressed, the legislators said state officials offered "vague safety concerns" without any specific details.
The legislators said they wanted to visit the facility because of "legal, moral and humanitarian concerns" raised following the DeSantis administration announcement of plans to build the center.
"Florida law is unambiguous — state legislators have full access to inspect any state-operated facility. This is not a federal facility," the legislators wrote. "Denying us entry is not only unlawful — it's a disgrace. We will be back."
"Alligator Alcatraz is not about public safety — it's about spectacle. It's about using cruelty and chaos as a political prop, while ignoring the very real crises Floridians face every day — rising housing costs, skyrocketing insurance premiums, and attacks on public education. This administration would rather build camps than build solutions."
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Florida officials raced to erect the compound of heavy-duty tents, trailers and temporary buildings in eight days, as part of the state's efforts to help carry out President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown. It includes more than 200 security cameras, 28,000-plus feet of barbed wire and 400 security employees.
The facility is located at an airport used for training about 50 miles west of Miami and will have a capacity of about 3,000 detainees when fully operational, according to Gov. Ron DeSantis and other state officials.
The center is estimated to cost $450 million a year, with the expenses incurred by Florida and reimbursed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, a U.S. official said.
Immigrants apprehended by Florida law enforcement officers under the federal government's 287(g) program will be taken to the facility, according to a Trump administration official. The program is led by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and allows police to interrogate immigrants in their custody and detain them for potential deportation.
Environmental groups and Native American tribes have protested against the center, contending it is a threat to the fragile Everglades system, would be cruel to detainees because of heat and mosquitoes, and is on land the tribes consider sacred.
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