Democrats in Congress planned an unannounced visit to ‘Alligator Alcatraz.’ Then Florida scheduled a guided tour.

ALLIGATOR ALCATRAZ AP PHOTO
'This sanitized tour is not real oversight.'

For Democratic members of Congress planned an unannounced visit on Thursday to the so-called ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ center. Then the state announced it would give them a guided tour.

U.S. Reps. Lois Frankel, Maxwell Frost, Jared Moskowitz, Darren Soto and Debbie Wasserman Schultz issued a joint statement about the change in plans. The lawmakers said they will still attend, but that no one should expect it to be their last visit.

“As Members of Congress, we were planning an unannounced oversight visit of this Everglades detention facility. Today, we received notice from the state announcing its own planned ‘tour’ at the same time, on the same day,” the statement reads.

The Florida Division of Emergency Management (FDEM) facility on Wednesday extended an invitation to state and federal lawmakers to tour the facility, as first reported by the Miami Herald and Tampa Bay Times.

That came after several members of the Florida Legislature were denied entry at the facility. Additionally, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has denied entry to facilities in other parts of the country, despite requirements to always allow federal lawmakers access to federally funded facilities.

“We do not need permission to conduct lawful oversight,” reads the statement from Florida’s Democratic members of Congress. “This sanitized tour is not real oversight. We expect ICE and FEM 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 of death and 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.”

Notably, ICE announced new limits restricting unannounced visits by members of Congress to facilities that detain aliens, as reported by The New York Times.

Jacob Ogles

Jacob Ogles has covered politics in Florida since 2000 for regional outlets including SRQ Magazine in Sarasota, The News-Press in Fort Myers and The Daily Commercial in Leesburg. His work has appeared nationally in The Advocate, Wired and other publications. Events like SRQ’s Where The Votes Are workshops made Ogles one of Southwest Florida’s most respected political analysts, and outlets like WWSB ABC 7 and WSRQ Sarasota have featured his insights. He can be reached at [email protected].


2 comments

  • Skeptic

    July 9, 2025 at 8:34 pm

    They received notice from the state announcing its own planned ‘tour’ at the same time, on the same day? Who let Mike Walsh and Pete Hegseth on the group chat? Theater of the absurd.

    Reply

  • Mike Smith

    July 10, 2025 at 7:09 am

    Children in Cages Part 2.

    Reply

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