A group of legislators recently visited the controversial new Florida immigration detention center that has been labeled “Alligator Alcatraz” and criticized for its inhumane conditions.
Over two dozen state lawmakers and members of Congress toured the facility on Saturday in a visit arranged by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. The visit confirmed Democrats’ complaints about the conditions of the facility and the lack of transparency surrounding its operation, even as Republicans continued to defend the site.
Detainees ‘crammed in like sardines’ with poor food and sanitation, Democrats report
Saturday’s tour of the immigration detention center came after lawmakers filed a lawsuit accusing authorities of denying them access in a “deliberate obstruction meant to hide what’s really happening behind those gates,” per a statement from lawmakers, CNN reported.
After the tour, Democrats protested that they were only shown empty cells as well as areas such as the kitchens; they were not allowed to tour the parts of the facilities where about 900 detainees are currently being held. Even so, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz noted that the meals she saw being prepared for detainees, a “gray turkey and cheese sandwich, an apple and chips,” were meager compared to what was being served to the visiting lawmakers. “I don’t see how that could possibly sustain them nutritionally or not make them hungry, she said, according to CNN. Even though they weren’t allowed to interact with detainees, Democratic lawmakers said they heard someone yell out “I’m an American citizen!” while others cried “libertad!” (meaning “freedom” in Spanish).
Democrats also complained about the heat in which detainees are being held, and Rep. Maxwell Alejandro Frost noted reports from detainees’ families of nonfunctioning toilets and “feces being spread everywhere” in detainees’ cells, CNN reported. Democrats not only called out the poor conditions in which detainees were being held but also accused Republicans of attempting to cover up the worst of the site. Florida state Sen. Lori Berman complained that “legislators were taken on a dog and pony show that confirmed our concerns about human rights violations and inhumane treatment and answered none of our questions.” Wasserman Schultz reported after the visit that detainees were being kept in overcrowded cells. “They are essentially packed into cages, wall-to-wall humans, 32 detainees per cage,” she said, comparing the facility to an “internment camp,” the Independent reported.
Republicans defend, celebrate the harsh detention site
While Democrats called out the conditions at the detention center, Republicans continue to defend the site. Republican Florida state Sen. Blaise Ingoglia tweeted after the tour that “the rhetoric coming from Democrats does not match the reality.” He claimed that “the place is well run, safe, secure, clean and air conditioned.” Another GOP state senator, Jay Collins, claimed that the facilities were in working order and said that “this is a transitional holding facility,” according to NBC News. Republicans have been defending the quickly constructed “temporary” immigration detention center, pointing to the harsh conditions and dangerous surroundings, which have gained the site the name “Alligator Alcatraz” as an important part of Trump’s deportation policies and a deterrent for unauthorized immigrants. President Donald Trump touted the facility after he toured it earlier in July, just before it opened, boasting that it had “a lot of bodyguards and a lot of cops in the form of alligators.”
The Trump administration has been conducting a harsh immigration and deportation strategy since the president returned to the White House in January. The administration has even used law enforcement and the criminal justice system to target Democrats who have protested or attempted to examine these policies. So even as Democrats shine a light on the latest inhumane set of immigration policies pushed by Trump and the GOP, we shouldn’t expect them to adjust their policies without additional pressure from politicians and the public.
