Democratic Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz slammed the Trump administration’s “Alligator Alcatraz” detention center in Florida, calling it an “internment camp” that must be “shut the hell down.”
Wasserman Schultz, who represents Florida’s 25th congressional district, said the photos of the facility didn’t capture how bad conditions really are. “They are essentially packed into cages,” she said.
The controversial site — a 3,000-bed detention center hastily constructed on a remote Everglades airstrip — was toured Saturday by lawmakers from both parties.
During a press conference afterward, Wasserman Schultz said the visit had been “sanitized,” but even so, the conditions were “appalling.”
“Wall-to-wall humans, 32 detainees per cage,” she described. “The only thing inside those cages are their bunk beds, and there are three tiny toilets.”
She added that the toilets are connected to sinks, forcing detainees to “brush their teeth where they poop,” with little to no privacy.
“This place needs to be shut the hell down. They’re abusing human beings in cages,” she later wrote on X.
Trump, Governor Ron DeSantis, and their allies have praised the detention center — a cluster of tents, trailers, and temporary buildings — as a swift, no-nonsense response to calls for mass deportations.
Though labeled as temporary, the center is a key part of the administration’s goal to raise the U.S. migrant detention capacity from 41,000 to over 100,000.
Its isolated location and nickname — referencing California’s infamous Alcatraz prison — were designed to send a strong message against illegal immigration.
While Democrats like Wasserman Schultz expressed outrage, several Republicans on the tour defended the facility.
“The rhetoric does not match the reality,” said State Senator Blaise Ingoglia, a DeSantis supporter. “It’s basically all political theater coming from the [Democrats]. What they’re saying is pure bullshit.”
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