COLLIER COUNTY, Fla. — South Florida lawmakers are demanding answers about what’s happening inside a controversial migrant detention dubbed as “Alligator Alcatraz," as concerns mount over the treatment of hundreds being held at the remote Everglades Detention Center.
The facility, which houses roughly 600 detainees and is operated by the Florida Division of Emergency Management, has become a flashpoint in a political and legal fight over transparency and access.
Lawmakers say they’ve been repeatedly denied entry.
“Our fears are actually reality of individuals being treated inhumanly,” Florida State Sen. Shevrin Jones, who is now among the lawmakers expected to tour the facility Saturday, told Local 10’s Glenna Milberg on This Week in South Florida this past Sunday.
That planned visit comes after a lawsuit was filed Wednesday by the group of Florida senators and representatives who were denied access last week.
Just before filing the suit, South Florida’s Democratic members of Congress were coordinating a surprise visit for Saturday.
At around 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, state officials sent out a formal invitation to lawmakers for a weekend tour. Whether that timing was a coincidence remains unclear.
“The most important thing is that we be able to get a view that is not scrubbed,” said U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D).
Still, independent verification of complaints about the site remains difficult.
The state denies any wrongdoing, and a report circulating earlier this week about a death at the facility turned out to be false.
“Although the state took control of the site under emergency powers, Miami-Dade taxpayers own the property,” Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said.
Earlier this week, Levine Cava requested oversight access and sought permission for reports and live video monitoring. That request was denied.
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