US EditionDemocrats Condemn Conditions at Everglades Immigration Center After Tour
OCHOPEE, FLORIDA, JUL 14 – Florida lawmakers remain divided over overcrowding and hygiene at a detention center holding about 900 migrants in the Everglades, with officials denying allegations of poor conditions.
- On July 2, 2025, Florida began operating a state-managed immigrant detention facility called Alligator Alcatraz, situated near a secluded airstrip in the Everglades region.
- The center was rapidly built on 39 square miles of seized Everglades land under claimed emergency powers despite concerns about environmental harm to the Big Cypress area, which is sacred to the Miccosukee and Seminole tribes.
- Democratic lawmakers toured the facility on July 12, describing it as overcrowded, unsanitary, and lacking detainee access, with temperatures measured between 83 and 85 degrees and conditions including bugs on mattresses and poor privacy.
- Republican officials like Sen. Blaise Ingoglia and State Sen. Jay Collins countered that the center is clean, well-run, meets all required standards, and features comfortable beds and working air conditioning.
- The facility houses thousands of detainees, faces lawsuits after lawmakers were denied visits, and raises environmental and human rights concerns amid efforts to expand migrant detention capacity.
30 Articles
30 Articles
Florida "Alligator Alcatraz" Tour Ignites Fiery Debate As Dems Cry Foul, Officials Push Back
“Political Theater”: Republicans Accuse Democrats of Exaggerating Conditions at “Alligator Alcatraz” A recent bipartisan tour of Florida’s new migrant detention facility, dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz,” has ignited a fierce political firestorm, with Democrats lambasting conditions as “unsanitary” and “overcrowded,” while state officials and Republicans vehemently dismiss their claims as “political theater.” Florida Division of Emergency Management …
'Living in cages:' Florida lawmakers push for transparency, lawsuits over migrant detention site
Floridas Everglades-based migrant detention facility, formally known as Alligator Alcatraz, is drawing sharp criticism from Democrats and firm defense from Republicans following a closed-door tour over the weekend.Both parties walked through the same $450 million facility, but emerged with vastly different takeaways.Air conditioned and there really wasnt an issue whatsoever with what we saw, said Sen. Blaise Ingoglia (R-Spring Hill), downplaying…
Republican, Democrat state leaders clash on Alligator Alcatraz accounts
TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) -- Republican and Democratic lawmakers are sharing very different accounts of conditions at the controversial ICE detention site, Alligator Alcatraz. It comes as the Tampa Bay Times reports that hundreds of immigrants are being held at the facility, many without criminal charges in the United States. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now 8 on Your Side …
San Bernardino Sun
The Press-EnterpriseTwo Democrats and a Republican visited ICE Adelanto detention center. Only one got in
Reps. Jay Obernolte, Raul Ruiz and Norma Torres all represent the Inland Empire in Congress. But when it comes to visiting the Adelanto ICE Processing Center, only one — Obernolte — was able to go inside the detention center in San Bernardino County’s High Desert on Friday, July 11. While Obernolte, R-Hesperia, praised conditions at the immigration detention facility, Ruiz, D-Palm Desert, and Torres, D-Ontario, denounced what they said were unla…
Fla. Supreme Court sends Dems’ suit over state immigrant detention center to lower court
Supreme Court of Florida. (Photo by Danielle J. Brown/Florida Phoenix)The Florida Supreme Court transferred to the state trial court in Tallahassee a lawsuit filed by Democratic lawmakers seeking access to the immigrant detention center in the Everglades. The justices on Monday sent the legislators’ request for their intervention to the Second Judicial Circuit. However, the justices noted that the transfer should not be read as a judgment on the…
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