State Rep. Anna V. Eskamani, state Sen. Carlos Guillermo Smith and state Rep. Michele Rayner. (Photos via Facebook)
A group of five Florida lawmakers, including three of the state’s four LGBTQ+ elected officials, will visit “Alligator Alcatraz” July 3 before hundreds of immigrants are expected to arrive at the Everglades site.
LGBTQ+ state Senators Shevrin Jones and Carlos Guillermo Smith along with LGBTQ+ state Representative Michele Rayner and Anna V. Eskamani and Angie Nixon, longtime allies, announced their “official legislative visit” to the location July 3. They noted in a release that it follows “a series of deeply troubling developments at the state-run immigration detention facility.”
“This visit comes just days after Donald Trump toured the facility, hailing it as a national model for immigration detention, and following the Department of Homeland’s designation of the site as a ‘state facility,’ effectively shielding it from federal oversight,” the release notes.
“Just last night, immigrants were transferred into the detention camp while the facility was reportedly flooded due to rain showers, exacerbating concerns about safety and emergency readiness in an already volatile environment,” it continues.
The five also released a joint statement:
“We are exercising our legal authority as state legislators to inspect this remote, taxpayer-funded facility at the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport. 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, $450 million pay-for-play scheme to enrich GOP donors under the pretense of border enforcement.
“What we’re witnessing isn’t about security or solving problems—it’s about inhumane political theater that endangers real people. 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 crisis. DeSantis should be focused on solving those issues, not creating even more chaos.”
The lawmakers noted they intend to review the site’s conditions, assess risks to detainees and staff and “scrutinize how public dollars are being spent—with a specific focus on transparency, vendor accountability, and legal compliance.”
“This cruel $450 MILLION detention camp is completely un-American. The corrupt pay-to-play contracts to GOP donors must be exposed,” Guillermo Smith also shared via social media.
“As state lawmakers, we have both the right and the responsibility to conduct oversight and we will be demanding full access,” Eskamani added. View their full release below:
