JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — On Thursday, five Democratic lawmakers from Florida submitted a petition to the Florida Supreme Court, seeking permission for unexpected and immediate entry into the newly established migrant detention center in the Everglades, which has been nicknamed “Alligator Alcatraz.”

The petition was filed by Rep. Ana Eskamani, Rep. Angela “Angie” Nixon, Rep. Michele Rayner, Sen. Carlos Guillermo Smith and Sen. Shevrin Jones.

A week ago, these lawmakers were refused entry when they tried to visit the facility without prior notice. They claim that two Florida laws clearly provide them the privilege to inspect any state, county, or municipal detention center at their discretion. The lawsuit alleges that Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and Kevin Guthrie, the Director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management, overstepped their legal authority by denying them access.

Jones posted on X, saying in part, “I’ve served in the Legislature for 13 years, and this has never happened.” 

The suit says officials only turned them away because of vague “safety concerns,” and did not offer legal justification.

The petitioners released the following joint statement:

“This issue extends beyond transparency; it’s about whether the Governor can single-handedly prevent oversight from another branch of government. We have pursued this legal action because barring lawmakers from exercising their legitimate right to carry out unscheduled inspections breaches both the law and the state constitution while endangering lives. Those held in the facility face living conditions akin to a modern concentration camp, erected swiftly in the heart of the Everglades, with reports of flooding and grave safety concerns. Florida laws empower us to arrive unannounced to verify that conditions are humane and taxpayer funds are being used responsibly. This right was denied on July 3.

“The DeSantis Administration’s refusal to let us in wasn’t some bureaucratic misstep. It was a deliberate obstruction meant to hide what’s really happening behind those gates. There is no statute that permits the Governor to overrule the Legislature’s oversight authority. This lawsuit is about defending the rule of law, protecting vulnerable people inside that facility, and stopping the normalization of executive overreach. Florida law is clear: lawmakers have the statutory right to unannounced inspections. The Governor does not get to rewrite that for political convenience.”

The construction of the facility in the remote and ecologically sensitive wetland about 45 miles (72 kilometers) west of downtown Miami was erected in just eight days.

Buses were seen arriving at the facility Thursday, just a day after Florida’s attorney general said hundreds of detainees would move in. That’s the same day lawmakers were denied access.

The facility will hold up to 3,000 immigration detention beds by early July, according to Florida Attorney General James Uthmeir. 

The office of Gov. Ron DeSantis is firing back after the lawsuit was filed in the Florida Supreme Court, accusing his administration of unlawfully blocking their oversight of the state’s new ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ immigration detention center in the Everglades.

“We decided to go down to what they are deeming Alligator Alcatraz, what we consider an internment camp, concentration camp, detainment facility,” Nixon said. “They put up raggedy a** tents, and they’re using 450 million taxpayer dollars, and they don’t want us to know what’s going on.”

Nixon said many detainees have been picked up from construction sites and senior living facilities and detained without due process, calling the site “a ridiculous political stunt to gain cheap political points with their base and at the expense of people’s livelihoods.”

DeSantis’ spokeswoman Molly Best dismissed the lawsuit as “frivolous” and “dumb.”

“Yesterday, the Florida Division of Emergency Management invited all Florida legislators to tour Alligator Alcatraz this weekend,” she said. “Today, five Democrat legislators responded by filing a frivolous lawsuit demanding access to Alligator Alcatraz. The State is looking forward to quickly dispensing with this dumb lawsuit.”