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lite.cnn.com - on gopher - inofficial
ARTICLE VIEW:
Lawmakers who tried to visit ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ amid humanitarian
concerns were denied entry
By Alisha Ebrahimji, Isabel Rosales, Devon M. Sayers, Dalia Faheid, CNN
Updated:
12:11 AM EDT, Fri July 4, 2025
Source: CNN
Florida lawmakers worried about “humanitarian concerns” were denied
entry into the new detention center dubbed 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: gives members of the
legislature authority to visit all state correctional institutions
“at their pleasure” and 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 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 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 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 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.
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 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
“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.
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