U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., visited the immigration detention facility in the middle of the Everglades known as Alligator Alcatraz unannounced Thursday morning and described the conditions as inhumane.
"I came away with the very strong reaction that this facility is inhumane," Wasserman Schultz said.
WATCH BELOW: Lawmaker calls Alligator Alcatraz 'inhumane' after unannounced visit
Unannounced visits to immigration detention facilities fall under official congressional oversight duties. During her visit to the facility, Wasserman Schultz mentioned the smell of urine, dirty and crowded cages where men were kept, harsh temperatures and meals that she described as too small.
In a call with reporters Thursday afternoon, Wasserman Schultz described entering a tented facility containing roughly 1,000 adult male detainees. She said cages were divided into sections, each holding 32 men. Each section had three toilets that were not private. The congresswoman said she could see fecal and urine residue on the toilets.
When asked to respond to some of the congresswoman's specific claims, Florida Division of Emergency Management spokeswoman Stephanie Hartman told WPTV that the toilets are cleaned daily.
"Each toilet area is separated by a privacy wall, making it impossible to see them from outside the pod," she said in an email.
Wasserman Schultz said she saw some detainees playing soccer in a "caged-in" recreation area, but most appeared "listless" and "in various stages of lethargy and discomfort."
She also noted that the turkey sandwiches served to the detainees for lunch on Thursday were prepared on March 28, according to the date printed on the packaging from an outside vendor.
"Detainees are provided meals based on ICE detention dietary standards," Hartman said.
FDEM staff and private contractors showed Wasserman Schultz around the facility for about three hours and provided her with a census as of Thursday, broken down by risk levels assigned by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
According to Wasserman Schultz, there were:
- 556 deemed "low risk"
- 229 deemed "medium-low risk"
- 195 considered "medium-high risk"
- 519 classified as "high risk"
Wasserman Schultz said she did not know how or why detainees were sorted into each risk category, but presumed it was based on criminal history. She said she had other questions for ICE, as well as for detainees who signed privacy release forms, but she said she never got that opportunity.
According to Hartman, FDEM staff were not shown privacy releases during the visit, and that those documents must be provided to ICE.
On March 27, a federal judge overseeing a civil rights lawsuit regarding attorney access at the facility ordered the State of Florida and U.S. government to implement several measures at the facility, including visible signage with information for legal assistance, additional unmonitored phones for confidential legal calls, and updated written policies regarding unscheduled attorney visits and outgoing legal calls.
Wasserman Schultz said she did not see any of that signage. She said she was told a handbook with written policies was available in a "common area," but she did not see where that common area was or how detainees could access it.
Hartman told me FDEM is procuring quotes for the privacy phones.
"The procurement process must follow standard procurement laws of the state of Florida which FDEM is doing," she said.
"This is a facility that should be shut down, that should not exist and the other deep concern that I have is that the cost of this facility is being hidden both by the state and by ICE," Wasserman Schultz said.
We have reported that the state has spent hundreds of millions of dollars on the facility but has not gotten reimbursed, despite promises from President Donald Trump and his administration.
WPTV also reached out to ICE seeking a response to the claims Wasserman Schultz made. ICE could not immediately provide that response. This story will be updated if and when they do.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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