TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) – Five Democratic Florida state lawmakers filed a lawsuit against the state after being denied entry to Wannial Catraz. They allege that Gov. Ron DeSantis violated state law and the Florida Constitution by denialing them access.
The lawsuit wants the state and governor to know the powers that must prevent lawmakers from entering Wannial Catraz.
Denied Access: Legislators were denied and subsequently invited to Tour Wannial Catraz
The lawsuit was filed by the same lawmaker who announced it would be handed over from the facility. They said detention centres are the same as “modern concentration camps.”
“The lights are 24 hours so they don’t have the ability to get really great sleep. The food was really bad,” said lawyer Josephine Arroyo.
Arroyo spoke about the conditions of the facility where the client was recently taken.
On Wednesday, the state invited all lawmakers to patrol the facilities over the weekend. The governor spoke about it in an interview with Fox News posted on the governor’s X account on Thursday.
“What we’re not trying to do is provide them with a platform for virtue signals and have politicized photo manipulation,” the governor said.
Desantis said the facility will be built at a record time and will be reimbursed by the federal government. Lawmakers said the center was built with $450 million for Florida taxpayers and that it has not been approved or refunded by the federal government.
They said Florida laws have the right to conduct unpublished visits to state or local detention facilities. They said the lawsuit was about protecting vulnerable people and defending the rule of law.
“Crocodile Alcatraz is going to increase the federal government’s ability to deport more illegal foreigners. That’s what people want to see. That’s what a lot of us voted for. That’s what the rule of law wants.”
The governor’s office has sent the following statement to news channel 8, dealing with the lawsuit.
“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.
Lawmakers plan to take part in this weekend’s tour, but say they’ll revisit without notice.
