TALHASSEE, Fla. (WFLA) – After being denied access last week, both state and federal lawmakers have been invited to tour the controversial detention site known as Wannial Catraz.
Democrats say they are called invitations, sanitized “photo manipulation,” and that future unannounced visits are still coming.
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Five state lawmakers have been turned away from the newly opened Wannial Catraz on an unannounced visit to the immigration camp. Now they have filed a lawsuit in Florida’s Supreme Court.
These very lawmakers were invited to attend a state-led tour of the detention scene, but not everyone is buying it.
“In my seven years of office, I have never been denied access to any kind of detention facility,” said Rep. Anna V. Eskamani of D-Orlando.
Escamani, along with state legislators Angie Nixon and Michele Rayner, and state senators Shevlin Jones and Carlos Guillermo Smith, all died for safety reasons for the emergency management department.
After that day, Florida Congressional Democrats in Washington, D.C. had quietly planned their own unannounced visit this Saturday, but before they stopped, the state scheduled their own tour on the exact same day.
“Obviously someone got the word for it and decided to put together a sanitized version of this cleansing. They’ll only allow us for an hour and a half,” said Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL 25). “We’ll come back and see how things actually look on a daily basis when they don’t expect us.”
“My concern about the scheduled visit is that it will be curated,” Eskamani said. “It will be sanitized. It will be limited by efforts to tell one side of the story. That’s why the ability to make unpublished visits as a legislator is very important and also a very normal part of governance.”
Critics said Saturday’s tour aims to prevent monitoring of the facility as more reports are spreading poor conditions at camp.
“We spoke to our relatives,” said Sen. Shevrin Jones of D-Miami Gardens. “We spoke with the attorneys of individuals in these facilities and made it clear that the conditions within these facilities are inhumane.”
Eskamani described these poor conditions as a battle ranging from individuals denied medical procedures to invasions at facilities.
“We receive phone calls, emails and messages directly from detainees’ loved ones and detainees’ attorneys,” Eskamani said. “The condition of this facility is the quality of the food, from lack of running water, resulting in people bathing in toilet water, and toothbrushes being delayed or denied.”
“I want to make it clear that this protest doesn’t just come from Democrats. I spoke to three of my Republican colleagues yesterday, and they’re also crossed their arms over what’s going on,” Senator Jones said. “They know that something is happening behind closed doors in inhumane facilities.”
Despite these concerns, Gov. Ron DeSantis continues to protect the camp. At a press conference this week, he said the site is temporary and necessary and will be fully refunded by the federal government.
“If the Fed has enough space, if there’s great space in six months or a year, then I know it’s great, and you don’t necessarily have to do that,” Desantis said. “But now we have a need and we don’t just sit in our hands.”
8 On your part, we’ve contacted the Florida Department of Emergency Management to ask for details on Saturday’s tour and why state legislators were denied access in the first place.
In response, they sent the following statement:
“Yesterday, Florida’s Office of Emergency Management invited all Florida legislators to tour Wannial Catraz this weekend, responding today by filing a frivolous lawsuit demanding access to Wannial Catraz.
