OHCOPEE, Fla. — Florida Democrats are raising alarms over conditions at the state's new immigration detention center, "Alligator Alcatraz". They say the facility is inhumane and an environmental threat to the Everglades.
On Saturday morning, a group of Florida Democratic members of Congress visited the facility for a brief, state-coordinated tour that lawmakers say was a sanitized effort to cover up what's really happening inside.
WATCH BELOW: Democrats tour 'Alligator Alcatraz,' say 'drinking water comes from the toilet'
U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who represents Florida's 25th congressional district, said the group had originally intended to make an unannounced visit, which is permitted under federal law. However, they believe the state caught wind of the plan and quickly arranged a controlled tour.
"We are here because the state set up what we expect to be a sanitized, cleansed, so-called tour," Wasserman Schultz said during a press conference outside the facility. "They should not put humans in cages in the middle of swampland in the Florida Everglades. It's outrageous. It's inhumane.”
Lawmakers said they've received credible reports of poor conditions inside, including inedible food infested with bugs, detainees forced to sleep under bright lights, and a lack of access to legal counsel.
Rep. Maxwell Alejandro Frost of Florida’s 10th congressional district brought a binder filled with names and photos of detainees whose families have lost contact with them.
Frost says some detainees haven’t spoken to their attorneys at all. Others have only been able to talk at odd hours of the night. One detainee reported that their "cage" had three phones, and two of them didn't work.
WATCH BELOW: Members of Florida Congress speak prior to tour
Frost also explained that the members were barred from bringing electronics inside the facility, which he believes was intended to prevent them from documenting what they saw.
U.S. Rep. Jared Moskowitz, who represents the 23rd district, described the entire setup as "effing ridiculous," and slammed the facility's logistics and capacity. "This is not a facility that can take a high influx of people. It’s a one-way road in and out. If anyone tried to design this from a logistical standpoint, this would never have happened," he said. "The cruelty is the point."
Rep. Wasserman Schultz also noted that the individuals being held do not appear to be criminals. "Donald Trump promised to round up the worst of the worst," he said. “There are no criminals here, as far as we know. But we're gonna find out."
Florida’s 9th district congressman, Darren Soto, focused on the economic impact. “What they’re doing here is eliminating thousands and thousands of workers over the course of the next few months. And every Floridian is going to feel that,” Soto said.
Wasserman Schultz said the facility was built without proper environmental permitting, despite its location in a sensitive Everglades ecosystem. She called the construction of such massive infrastructure in the area “an outrageous imposition” on the state’s restoration efforts.
The groups were originally told they would be taking one 90-minute tour. Late last night, they got an email saying they will now only be given a 30-minute tour, and they will be split up into 3 groups.
Despite the limitations of Saturday’s tour, lawmakers said they plan to return again on their own terms.
"I have no doubt we’ll be back at a date and time of our choosing," Moskowitz said.
They described the conditions as "disturbing, disgusting" inside of the facility.
Wasserman Schultz said what they saw during Saturday's tour confirmed many of their suspicions about the living conditions of the facility: migrants held in cages, overcrowded conditions, poor sanitation, and inadequate food.
"Pictures don’t do it justice," she said. "Wall-to-wall humans packed into cages, 32 detainees per cage."
She says each cage has three tiny toilets connected to sinks, the same sinks where they wash their hands, brush their teeth, and get their drinking water.
According to the representatives, 900 men are currently held at the facility, but it was built to hold up to 1,000.
The state, they said, built the facility at the request of the Department of Homeland Security to hold undocumented migrants and is "working hand in glove with ICE."
While detainees were served grilled cheese sandwiches and apples, employees were seen receiving large roasted chicken meals. Though the state insists the center follows ICE-approved prison standards, Wasserman Schultz says she doesn't know how the meals they were served can keep fully grown men full.
Lawmakers said they were not permitted to speak with any detainees during their visit. They were also denied access to the medical center.
Wasserman Schultz brought a thermometer into the facility, where she says it was 83 degrees inside the so-called air-conditioned tent.
U.S. Rep. Darren Soto called the facility a "political stunt," highlighting reports of flooding, lack of plumbing and the need to truck in water for basic use.
WATCH: Democrats hold news conference to share what they witnessed after tour
"They say detainees must be deported within 14 days, but today is day 10 and not one person has been deported," Soto said.
"What we saw is very simple. We saw humans being held in cages," Frost added.
He also explained that the facility has hired third-party private security officers, similar to those hired at concerts.
The detainees are grouped by color-coded wristbands, some of whom are reportedly being held for minor infractions like traffic tickets, with no criminal history.
"Immigrants are not poisoning the blood of this nation," Frost said. "They are the blood of this nation."
Democratic leaders also raised concerns about the facility's hurricane evacuation plans and the lack of legal access for detainees. The family member of one of the detainees said they allowed them to shower and change clothes before the tour, and the food suddenly got much better.
"Every Floridian should be ashamed that our taxpayer money is being used to put people in cages," said Frost.
"We don't need to debate the conditions," state Rep. Rita Harris of House District 44 bluntly said. "The fact is, there are people there who most likely do not belong there, and that is enough."
"We ran for office to help make people’s lives better. They [state leaders] ran to serve their MAGA master and remain in power," Wasserman Schultz concluded.
