OCHOPEE, Fla. — Florida’s Republican and Democratic state lawmakers and Congressional members have been invited to tour Alligator Alcatraz.
The invite, sent by the state Division of Emergency Management, comes after a group of Democratic state lawmakers, including local State Representative Angie Nixon, attempted to tour the facility last week.
They were denied entry.
“We have a statutory right to be able to enter into any facility that is run by the state as it relates to being a detention center, and they denied us that,” Representative Nixon said Saturday.
Florida Democrats released a joint statement Wednesday, revealing that they had already been planning an unannounced oversight visit before the invitations were sent out.
“Today, we received notice from the state announcing its own planned ‘tour’ at the same time, on the same day. We do not need permission to conduct lawful oversight.
“This sanitized tour is not real oversight. We expect ICE and FDEM will try to paper over the inhumane treatment of detained people with a limited, scrubbed visit and rehearsed answers.
“Given reports of horrific living conditions, rampant denial of due process, the risk of death and destruction from a hurricane, plus irreversible damage to the Everglades and tribal lands, we will attend this scripted ‘tour’ to see the conditions and speak to detainees and guards. We will also return, unannounced, to conduct real oversight as the law allows and the American people demand.”
RELATED: ‘They broke the law’: Florida rep raises transparency and safety concerns over ‘Alligator Alcatraz’
Concerns about the conditions inside the detention center in the Everglades have been reported in recent days, including complaints of toilets not flushing, bugs, lack of access to showers, and uncomfortable temperatures.
Lawmakers have until Friday to RSVP for the tour scheduled for Saturday. Staff and other visitors will not be allowed in.
Representative Nixon said she is “tentatively” planning to attend.
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