All seven Democratic members of Florida’s congressional delegation, led by U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz are demanding immediate transparency and legal accountability following a scathing watchdog report that confirms widespread human rights violations at the now-closed Everglades internment camp dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz.”
“This is not how America should treat human beings in our custody, regardless of their immigration status," wrote the lawmakers in their letter to top state and federal officials in charge of the detention facility.
The joint letter was addressed to Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, and Florida Division of Emergency Management Executive Director Jared Perdue, the lawmakers called out state and federal officials for subjecting detainees to extreme conditions and misleading them.
"We can enforce our laws without abandoning basic human dignity,” they wrote. “And in a nation of laws, there must be consequences when elected officials and their appointees rob taxpayer funds to inflict environmental damage, violate Constitutional protections, and commit acts of torture in our backyard."
"Those responsible for these conditions must be held accountable and we must make sure nothing like this happens again in Florida.”
READ MORE: Federal watchdog confirms WLRN report that Alligator Alcatraz used 'risky' punishment
Those signing the letter were comprised of all seven Democratic members of Florida’s congressional delegation: Reps. Kathy Castor, D-Tampa, Frederica Wilson, D-Miami Gardens, Lois Frankel, D-Boca Raton, Darren Soto, D-Orlando, Jared Moskowitz, D-Parkland and Maxwell Frost, D-Orlando.
DeSantis defended state officials in charge of the detention center at a press conference Monday in Miami.
"When they set [Alligator Alcatraz] up, their goal was not only to meet the federal standards, but to actually exceed the federal standards," DeSantis said.
The report released by the Department of Homeland Security's Office Office of Inspector General confirmed what WLRN reported exclusively more than a year ago — that Alligator Alcatraz was using small, cage enclosures to confine detainees for hours at a time as punishment for infractions including talking back to guards.
In WLRN's July 2025 report, one Nicaraguan detainee said he had been "chained" and made to stand in what he said guards called "the box," exposed to the summer sun with no water.
"I did nothing violent," the detainee, who had no criminal convictions and asked not to be named, told WLRN by phone from inside the facility.
In its report, DHS OIG investigators reported that 79 detainees were locked in tiny outdoor metal enclosures — measuring roughly 16 to 18 square feet — for up to two hours. While facility staff described the structures as "calming areas" for detainees to "de-escalate," the investigators said the practice was unprecedented and warned it posed significant risks to detainee health and safety, leaving individuals exposed to severe heat and insects.
Beyond the cages, the federal investigators documented systemic failures in medical care, food service, hygiene, recreation, and environmental safety.
The Democratic lawmakers said they were repeatedly blocked from viewing the cages during oversight visits, saying that staff lied to them and claimed detainee reports were false.
Last April, following an inspection, Wasserman Schultz and her fellow Florida Democrats introduced the No Cages in the Everglades Act. The bill seeks to defund internment camps in the Everglades, launch an independent investigation, and secure congressional oversight rights. It remains pending in the Republican-majority House.
