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

By Alisha Ebrahimji, Isabel Rosales, CNN

(CNN) — 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.

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.

Florida state Sen. Shevrin Jones, who was part of the group, said in a social media post that Florida law allows public officials to “make unannounced visits to state-run facilities.”

He appeared to be referring to a law signed in 2023 by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis aimed at providing members of the Legislature and others, visitation rights at state-run correctional institutions, county and municipal detention facilities without notice.

CNN has reached out to the Florida Division of Emergency Management for comment.

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,” Jones and four other Democratic 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 to it, 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 0.40 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 Department 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.

Tricia McLaughlin, the assistant secretary for public affairs at the Department of Homeland Security, said authorities will “expand facilities and bed space in just days.”

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 Department of Homeland Security official told CNN, adding that Florida will front the costs of the facility and then “submit reimbursement requests” through FEMA and the Department of Homeland Security.

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.”

“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 Department of Homeland Security 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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CNN’s Devon M. Sayers, Chelsea Bailey and Luke Snyder contributed to this report.