Democratic lawmaker calls Alligator Alcatraz 'inhumane' after unannounced visit [View all]

Source: Scripps News

Posted 12:18 PM, Apr 10, 2026


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.

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 the Scripps News Group 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."

Read more: https://www.scrippsnews.com/politics/immigration/democratic-lawmaker-calls-alligator-alcatraz-inhumane-after-unannounced-visit