Dem lawmakers to inspect 'Alligator Alcatraz' detention center, citing safety concerns
Multiple Democratic lawmakers will visit Alligator Alcatraz a new illegal immigrant detention center being constructed near the Everglades and Big Cypress National Preserve in Florida on Thursday The official legislative site visit is in response to what authorities claim is a series of deeply troubling developments at the state-run immigrant detention facility according to a news release Florida state Sen Shevrin Jones and Sen Carlos Guillermo Smith will be joined by state representatives Anna Eskamani Angie Nixon and Michele Rayner FLORIDA ENVIRONMENTAL GROUPS TRY BLOCKING TRUMP'S 'ALLIGATOR ALCATRAZ' WITH LAST-MINUTE LAWSUITThe visit comes days after President Donald Trump toured the state site alongside Florida Gov Ron DeSantis and Homeland Precaution Secretary Kristi Noem Democrats alleged illegal immigrants were transferred to the detention center Wednesday night when the site was reportedly flooded due to rain They claimed the rain which rolled in less than a week after the previously unoccupied airport facility opened to illegal immigrants exacerbate ed concerns about safety and crisis readiness in an already volatile context according to the release FLORIDA BUILDING 'ALLIGATOR ALCATRAZ ' WHERE ICE DETAINEES FACE NATURE'S OWN PRECAUTION SYSTEM We are exercising our legal authority as state legislators to inspect this remote taxpayer-funded facility at the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport the lawmakers wrote in a joint declaration This is not a federal project it is fully funded operated and approved by the State of Florida under Governor DeSantis And what s happening here is un-American Alligator Alcatraz represents a makeshift detention camp of cruelty rooted in a corrupt no-bid million pay-for-play scheme to enrich GOP donors under the pretense of limit enforcement The -square-mile property will be home to ICE detainees and is guarded by alligators and pythons TRUMP ADMINISTRATION APPROVES ALLIGATOR ALCATRAZ WHERE ICE DETAINEES FACE NATURE'S OWN DEFENSE SYSTEMTrump functionaries stated Tuesday the project was approved and crews started working on the transformation Monday What we re witnessing isn t about precaution or solving problems it s about inhumane political theater that endangers real people the Democrats wrote in the message Reports of extreme heat flooding structural issues environmental threats and human rights violations demand immediate oversight As lawmakers we have both the legal right and moral responsibility to inspect this site demand answers and expose this abuse before it becomes the national blueprint So much of this is also a distraction from the everyday issues all Floridians are facing like housing affordability and the property insurance situation they added DeSantis should be focused on solving those issues not creating even more chaos UNCLE SAM S DEVIL S ISLAND FROM AL CAPONE TO MACHINE GUN KELLY MEET ALCATRAZ S BULK INFAMOUS INMATESThe inspection comes two months after Newark Mayor Ras Baraka was arrested at a U S Immigration and Customs Enforcement ICE detention center where three members of Congress also stormed the facility's gate demanding they be allowed to conduct an oversight visit While Baraka was arrested for trespassing he was circulated hours later and charges were dropped In addition to the lawmakers' in-person visit multiple environmental groups filed a federal lawsuit on Friday claiming bureaucrats needed to pause construction to allow time to evaluate the prospective ecological impacts of the renovations Department of Homeland Defense Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin previously narrated Fox News Digital a lazy lawsuit filed by Friends of the Everglades and the Center for Biological Diversity in the Southern District of Florida ignores the fact that this land has already been developed for a decade DHS did not right away respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment Fox News Digital's Louis Casiano and Fox News' Bill Melugin contributed to this overview
