Lawmakers were stopped from entering Alligator Alcatraz. That may violate Florida law

Ana Ceballos and Antonio Delgado, Miami Herald on Jul 3, 2025

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — A group of Florida lawmakers were barred from entering Alligator Alcatraz, the state-run detention facility for migrants in the Florida Everglades, Thursday afternoon.

Citing “safety concerns,” a representative with the Florida Division of Emergency Management, the state agency overseeing the detention facility’s operation, was at first hesitant to allow lawmakers into the facility. Ultimately, lawmakers were denied access after a back-and-forth that lasted more than an hour and told to return at a later time.

“I find it hard to believe that they have safety concerns for us but no safety concerns for the president of the United States when he was here just two days ago,” Sen. Carlos Guillermo Smith, D-Orlando, told the Herald/Times as he was trying to gain access into the site.

Denying access to lawmakers may run afoul of Florida law, which says members of the Legislature are allowed to “visit at their pleasure all state correctional institutions.” It’s the same case for the governor, all Cabinet members, judges of state courts, state attorneys and public defenders.

Smith was one of five Democratic state lawmakers – including Sen. Shevrin Jones, D-West Park, and state Rep. Michele Rayner, D-St. Petersburg — who traveled to the remote site trying to go inside the facility. The site opened on Tuesday with a visit from President Donald Trump and Gov. Ron DeSantis, and which received the first immigration detainees Wednesday night.

Even before the lawmakers were denied access, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier — who gave the facility its official name, Alligator Alcatraz, emblazoned on state signs Wednesday — made light of their plans.

“I hope they have an airboat,” Uthmeier said in a post on X.

The detention center for migrants — which was erected in an eight-day span — is a state-run facility operated by private vendors. A draft operational plan created by the State Emergency Response Team and obtained by the Miami Herald characterizes the site as a state “temporary detention facility.” Documents say the facility should meet the minimum standards for jails across the state as well as the standards U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement sets for state and local facilities its contracts with to house immigrant detainees.

Smith said he wants to go inside the facility because he is concerned about its conditions, citing issues with flooding and a lack of information on what the state’s evacuation plan is for detainees in case of an emergency.

In a court filing Thursday morning, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security made it clear the site is a state-built and run operation, and that the feds have “not implemented, authorized, directed or funded Florida’s temporary detention center.”

In a separate filing, a top official of ICE — the DHS agency tasked with arresting and deporting immigrants — says that ICE’s role has been limited to ensuring compliance with detention standards.

“The State of Florida is responsible for the funding and construction of the facility,” wrote Thomas Giles, assistant director for ICE field operations.