Lawmakers who tried to visit ‘Alligator Alcatraz' amid humanitarian concerns were denied entry

CNN

04-07-2025

Democratic Florida state Sens. Shevrin Jones, left, and Carlos Guillermo Smith, far right, along with state Reps. Anna Eskamani, right, Michele Rayner and Angie Nixon, center, spoke with law enforcement outside the 'Alligator Alcatraz" facility on Thursday.
Florida lawmakers worried about 'humanitarian concerns' were denied entry into the new detention center dubbed 'Alligator Alcatraz' Thursday, just hours after the arrival of its first group of detainees.
'They stopped us pretty immediately,' said Florida state Rep. Anna Eskamani, one of the five Democratic state lawmakers who attempted to visit the facility and inspect its grounds following reports of flooding and other issues.
The lawmakers were stopped by law enforcement officers from multiple Florida agencies and later, a general counsel from the Florida Division of Emergency Management cited a 'safety concern' for the denial without offering specific details, Eskamani said.
'If it's unsafe for us, how is it safe for the detainees?' Eskamani said she asked the attorney.
The group's request to see the outer perimeter of the tent facility was also denied, Eskamani said.
The lawmakers said in a joint statement that Florida law allows state legislators to 'have full access to inspect any state-operated facility.' They referenced two Florida statutes: one gives members of the legislature authority to visit all state correctional institutions 'at their pleasure' and another allows them to visit county and municipal detention facilities.
'This is a blatant abuse of power and an attempt to conceal human rights violations from the public eye,' the group said.
CNN has reached out to the Florida Division of Emergency Management for comment.
The incident is one of a spate of recent tense encounters involving lawmakers at immigration detention centers. Last month, Democratic Rep. LaMonica McIver was indicted on federal charges alleging she impeded and interfered with immigration officers outside a Newark, New Jersey, detention center as she and other Democratic lawmakers tried to visit the facility in May. Newark Mayor Ras Baraka was arrested at the scene after he tried to join the lawmakers inside the facility.
Detainees have arrived at the facility in the middle of the Florida Everglades, the state emergency management agency said Thursday, following reports of flooding earlier this week. Prior to trying to enter the facility, the lawmakers noted there have been reports of extreme heat, structural issues, environmental threats and human rights violations that 'demand immediate oversight.'
'What's happening here is un-American,' the group of state lawmakers said in a joint news release before going to the facility Thursday. 'What we're witnessing isn't about security or solving problems—it's about inhumane political theater that endangers real people.'
President Donald Trump toured the facility Tuesday and shortly after, summer storms amid the region's hurricane season brought flooding, adding to a list of concerns about the facility's readiness to house migrants.
Wires were seen submerged in pooling water across the floor and high winds made the floor and walls of the facility's tents tremble, reporter video from CNN affiliate Spectrum News 13 showed. A combination of weather observations and estimates from radar indicate that anywhere from around 0.4 to 1.5 inches of rain fell at the facility in less than two hours on Tuesday, according to CNN Weather.
Later that night, 'vendors went back and tightened any seams at the base of the structures that allowed water intrusion during the heavy storm, which was minimal,' Stephanie Hartman, a spokesperson for the Florida Division of Emergency Management, told CNN in a separate request for information about the flooding.
But more rainfall could be on the horizon amid the region's hurricane season and the chance for storms in the forecast every day in the next week, according to CNN Weather.
It's unclear how many detainees are currently being housed at the compound as of Thursday, but it has the capacity to hold 3,000 people, with room for more, Kevin Guthrie, executive director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management, said in a roundtable Tuesday alongside Trump.
Beds are seen inside a migrant detention center dubbed "Alligator Alcatraz" in Ochopee, Florida, on July 1.
DHS says it isn't directly involved with the facility
The US Department of Homeland Security said it has not been directly involved in 'Alligator Alcatraz,' according to a federal court filing submitted Wednesday, a move distancing the Trump administration from the makeshift detention facility.
'DHS has not implemented, authorized, directed, or funded Florida's temporary detention center,' the court filing reads.
Thomas Giles, the interim assistant director for Enforcement and Removal Field Operations at ICE, said in a declaration that ICE's role 'has been limited to touring the facility to ensure compliance with ICE detention standards, and meeting with officials from the State of Florida to discuss operational matters.'
The agency made the declaration as part of a federal lawsuit filed by two environmental groups seeking to stop the use of the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport as a site to house undocumented detainees. The groups allege the 'reckless plan' will put at risk the ecologically sensitive Everglades wetland.
In the court filing, DHS argued the facility is built and run solely by the state of Florida.
The state can detain undocumented people at the facility under the 287(g) program, which allows ICE to authorize state and local law enforcement officers to perform specific immigration enforcement duties under ICE's supervision, Giles said in the court filing.
'The ultimate decision of who to detain at the TNT Detention Facility belongs to Florida,' he said.
Despite distancing itself from the facility, DHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs, Tricia McLaughlin said authorities will 'expand facilities and bed space in just days, thanks to our partnership with Florida.'
As part of the lawsuit, the Department of Justice defended the development of the facility, saying that delaying its construction 'would imperil critical immigration enforcement efforts and endanger detainees in overcrowded detention facilities.'
DHS said the state has not received or applied for federal funds related to the detention center.
But a declaration submitted by a Federal Emergency Management Agency official as part of the lawsuit noted a $600 million detention support grant program has been established to help the state with immigration detention. Once the program is finalized, the Florida Division of Emergency Management can apply for federal funds for the state's detention facilities.
On Thursday, the US military also said it would send about 200 Marines to Florida to assist ICE as part of a broader push to deploy active-duty troops to assist with deportations.
A statement from US Northern Command didn't say where in Florida the Marines would be sent, or whether they will support 'Alligator Alcatraz,' but noted they would 'perform strictly non-law enforcement duties within ICE facilities.'
Detention center is 'as safe and secure as you can be,' governor says
Nestled in the middle of Florida's humid, subtropical wetland ecosystem, 'Alligator Alcatraz' was transformed from a training and transition airport to a temporary tent city for migrants.
The expected cost to run the detention center for one year is $450 million, a DHS official told CNN, adding that Florida will front the costs of the facility and then 'submit reimbursement requests' through FEMA and DHS.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said the facility is necessary to alleviate burdens on the state's law enforcement agencies and jails, and touted it for being designed to be 'completely self-contained' – which has prompted local immigration rights advocates to accuse his administration of creating a facility 'engineered to enact suffering.'
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'Clearly from a security perspective, if someone escapes, there's a lot of alligators you're going to have to contend (with),' DeSantis said last week. 'No one is going anywhere once you do that. It's as safe and secure as you can be.'
Migrants will be housed in repurposed FEMA trailers and 'soft-sided temporary facilities,' a DHS official told CNN.
The same tents are often used to house those displaced by natural disasters, like hurricanes, DeSantis' office said. They likely will provide the only shelter from Mother Nature as summer in South Florida proves to be the region's wettest season, in part due to the tropical activity of hurricane season and daily thunderstorms.
State officials said they are developing evacuation plans for the facility in the event of severe weather.
CNN's Shania Shelton, Chelsea Bailey and Luke Snyder contributed to this report.