What was meant to be a surprise inspection turned into a tightly managed tour, but what Florida lawmakers saw inside Alligator Alcatraz left them horrified.

On Saturday afternoon, four Florida representatives, including Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL-25), Darren Soto (FL-9), Maxwell Frost (FL-10), and Jared Moskowitz (FL-23), along with other lawmakers, were given what they call a “sanitized tour” of Alligator Alcatraz by Florida’s Division of Emergency Management (FDEM) and federal officials.

The tour, which was intended to be an unannounced visit, was undermined when the State of Florida announced its planned tour, at the same time on the same day.

A joint news release from the Representatives stated that despite the alleged limited access and sanitization of the tour, the conditions were “horrific.”

The Members reported seeing people held in cages, unsanitary eating conditions, people begging for freedom, a man who said he had been hospitalized for days, among other concerning conditions.

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At a , Governor Ron DeSantis defended the facility’s management, saying, “It’s not the Four Seasons.” He added that the facility was professionally run and was “value added.”

President Donald Trump also the state of Florida and credited DeSantis for using the “perfect” piece of land “on top of something that was already developed.”

In a Zoom conference hosted by Representative Maxwell Frost following the tour, he described seeing cages holding up to 32 people each, drinking water coming from toilets, bugs everywhere, people yelling “help me,” and some chanting that they were U.S. citizens.

“They essentially get their drinking water, and they brush their teeth where they poop,” Wasserman Schultz said, addressing the media outside Alligator Alcatraz.

Frost also said that the members were denied access to the medical facilities, with tour guides claiming it was due to HIPAA regulations, though Frost stated that simply viewing the facilities does not constitute a HIPAA violation.

In addition to those concerns, he noted that detainees said the food got a little bit better the day before the visit, and they were able to shower, which was previously not a common occurrence.

“There are really disturbing, vile conditions. This place needs to be shut the hell down,” said Rep. Wasserman Schultz following the tour. “This place is a stunt, and they’re abusing human beings here.”

Previous from an inmate, which were , claimed that there was no water to shower, the lights stay on all day, and the food is limited and sometimes spoiled.

“Everyone should be pissed off that their money is being used for an internment camp in the middle of the Everglades,” said Frost.

The Members also cited environmental concerns, stating that the facility sidestepped all required environmental permitting, including light pollution, damaged wetlands, destroyed habitats for wildlife, and increased risk of spills into sensitive waters.

“It probably costs double the amount to put this facility here instead of by krome, which begs the question, why are they spending all of this money for this to be here?” Representative Soto told reporters. “The director’s answer was that he was not given a single reason for why they chose this location.”

Nonetheless, the Members say they plan to return for an undisclosed inspection soon.

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South Florida Catch up on Alligator Alcatraz with these five takeaways

These articles share insights into Alligator Alcatraz, the migrant detention center in Florida. The takeaways focus on construction, politics and the controversial location.

See the stories below.

NO. 1: ‘ALLIGATOR ALCATRAZ’: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE EVERGLADES DETENTION CAMP

Florida’s decision to build a massive detention facility for undocumented immigrants in the middle of the Everglades is fast becoming one of the most controversial symbols of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. | Published June 24, 2025 | Read Full Story by Antonio Maria Delgado

US President President Donald Trump (2L), alongside Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (L), tour a migrant detention center, dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz,” located at the site of the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport in Ochopee, Florida on July 1, 2025. President Trump is visiting a migrant detention center in a reptile-infested Florida swamp dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz.” Trump will attend the opening of the 5,000-bed facility — located at an abandoned airfield in the Everglades wetlands — part of his expansion of deportations of undocumented migrants, his spokeswoman said. (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP) (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)

NO. 2: MERCH, JOKES AND MEMES: TRUMP OFFICIALS, SUPPORTERS LOVE THE NAME ALLIGATOR ALCATRAZ

“Alligator Alcatraz,” the immigrant detention facility that opened Tuesday in the Florida Everglades, has become a rich source of jokes, memes and even merchandise put out by officials aligned with the Trump administration — and the president’s supporters.President Donald Trump, visiting the facility with Gov. | Published July 1, 2025 | Read Full Story by Grethel Aguila

Ochopee, Florida, June 28, 2025 – Protesters rally near Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport where a migrant detention center is being built. The center, which is being called “Alligator Alcatraz,” is in the middle of the Everglades. Protesters argue the detention center could damage the fragile ecosystem of the area. By Photo by Pedro Portal

NO. 3: DETENTION CENTER DRIVING OUT WILDLIFE, DAMAGING EVERGLADES, CRITICS CONTEND

‘The Everglades deserves more, which is why we’re in court.’ | Published July 3, 2025 | Read Full Story by Alex Harris

Workers install a permanent Alligator Alcatraz sign. The facility is within the Florida Everglades, 36 miles west of the central business district of Miami, in Collier County, Florida. , Florida, on Thursday, July 3, 2025. By PHOTO BY AL DIAZ

NO. 4: ALLIGATOR ALCATRAZ HAS OPENED IN THE FLORIDA EVERGLADES. HERE ARE SOME TAKEAWAYS

What to know about the detention facility for migrants. | Published July 4, 2025 | Read Full Story by Miami Herald Archives

Aerial view of structures including gigantic tents built at the recently opened migrant detention center, “Alligator Alcatraz,” located at the site of the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport in Ochopee, Florida on Friday July 04, 2025. By Pedro Portal

NO. 5: GIANT BUGS, HEAT AND A HOSPITAL VISIT: INSIDE ALLIGATOR ALCATRAZ’S FIRST DAYS

Concerns about conditions for detainees were heightened when one was rushed out of the detention center Monday in an ambulance. | Published July 8, 2025 | Read Full Story by Ana Ceballos Alex Harris Claire Healy

The summary above was drafted with the help of AI tools and edited by journalists in our News division. All stories listed were reported, written and edited by McClatchy journalists.

The Trump administration recently launched “Alligator Alcatraz,” a migrant detention center based in Florida whose name references the region’s native population of scaly reptilians. Americans have been left with little to do about the situation other than react with horror and amazement or, in the case of one TikToker, a desire to spin the dystopian situation into comedy gold.

Lisandra Vazquez, a TikTok comedian with nearly a million followers, recently decided to troll the president’s supporters by creating a website that appears to be a company offering guided tours of the draconian prison but, in reality, offers information about how to donate to progressive organizations like Planned Parenthood, Climate Power, and World Central Kitchen, a non-profit that provides food relief.

Vazquez launched a website, dubbed Terri’s Tourz, that, upon first glance, appears to be a tour guide company marketed to the MAGA crowd. “Making America Great, One Tour at a Time,” the site states. The site features what is obviously an AI-generated image of a folksy-looking white woman (who, the website visitor might safely assume, is Terri). However, when site visitors click on hyperlinks embedded in the site’s homepage (they offer options like “VIP Tour” and “Basic Tours”), they are simply directed to pictures of Donald Trump hanging out with Jeffrey Epstein.

Another page on the site offers visitors links to several liberal non-profits, with the note: “If you can’t donate money to these organizations, maybe you can volunteer time? If not time, then maybe sharing their pages? Often, just resharing posts from an organization can have a butterfly effect.”

A disclosure on the website clearly notes: “TerrisTourz.com is a satirical website created for entertainment purposes only. All characters, events, and scenarios—though occasionally inspired by real-life individuals or public commentary—are entirely fictional and exaggerated for comedic effect.” A different disclaimer encourages the visitor to “proceed with laughter.”

The real Alligator Alcatraz has been accused of holding detainees in inhumane conditions, without access to adequate food and water, CBS has reported. The facility was built by federal authorities over the course of only several days at a municipal airport in the Everglades, some 50 miles west of Miami. According to reports, the prison is also said to be plagued by giant bugs and non-functioning toilets. There is no evidence that alligators are actually being used as security guards, though Florida governor Ron DeSantis recently said, of the building: “Clearly from a security perspective, if someone escapes, there’s a lot of alligators you’re going to have to contend (with)…No one is going anywhere once you do that. It’s as safe and secure as you can be.”

The first group of immigrants has arrived at a new detention center deep in the Florida Everglades that officials have dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz,” a spokesperson for Republican state Attorney General James Uthmeier told The Associated Press.

“People are there,” Press Secretary Jae Williams said, though he didn’t immediately provide further details on the number of detainees or when they arrived.

“Next stop: back to where they came from,” Uthmeier said on the X social media platform Wednesday. He’s been credited as the architect behind the Everglades proposal.

“Stood up in record time under @GovRonDeSantis ’ leadership & in coordination with @DHSgov & @ICEgov, Florida is proud to help facilitate @realDonaldTrump ’s mission to enforce immigration law,” the account for the Florida Division of Emergency Management posted to the social media site X on Thursday. Requests for additional information from the office of Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis and FDEM, which is building the site, were not returned early Thursday afternoon.

The facility, at an airport used for training, will have an initial capacity of about 3,000 detainees, DeSantis said. The center was built in eight days and features more than 200 security cameras, 28,000-plus feet (8,500 meters) of barbed wire and 400 security personnel.

WATCH: Trump visits Florida’s ‘Alligator Alcatraz,’ urges more states to open ICE detention sites

Immigrants who are arrested by Florida law enforcement officers under the federal government’s 287(g) program will be taken to the facility, according to an official in President Donald Trump’s administration. The program is led by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and allows police officers to interrogate immigrants in their custody and detain them for potential deportation.

The facility is expected to be expanded in 500 bed increments until it has an estimated 5,000 beds by early July.

A group of Florida Democratic state lawmakers headed to the facility Thursday to conduct “an official legislative site visit,” citing concerns about conditions for detainees and the awarding of millions of dollars in state contracts for the construction.

“As lawmakers, we have both the legal right and moral responsibility to inspect this site, demand answers, and expose this abuse before it becomes the national blueprint,” the legislators said in a joint statement ahead of the visit.

Federal agencies signaled their opposition Thursday to a lawsuit brought by environmental groups seeking to halt operations at the detention center. Though Trump applauded the center during an official tour earlier this week, the filing on behalf of the Department of Homeland Security seemed to try to distance his administration from the facility, and said no federal money to date has been spent on it.

“DHS has not implemented, authorized, directed, or funded Florida’s temporary detention center. Florida is constructing and operating the facility using state funds on state lands under state emergency authority and a preexisting general delegation of federal authority to implement immigration functions,” the U.S. filing says.

Human rights advocates and Native American tribes have also protested against the center, contending it is a threat to the fragile Everglades system, would be cruel to detainees because of heat and mosquitoes, and is on land the tribes consider sacred.

It’s also located at a place prone to frequent heavy rains, which caused some flooding in the tents Tuesday during a visit by President Donald Trump to mark its opening. State officials say the complex can withstand a Category 2 hurricane, which packs winds of between 96 and 110 mph (154 and 177 kph), and that contractors worked overnight to shore up areas where flooding occurred.

According to images shared with the AP, overnight Wednesday, workers put up new signs labeled “Alligator Alcatraz” along the sole highway leading to the site and outside the entrance of the airfield that has been known as the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport. State officials seized the county-owned land where the facility is located using emergency powers authorized by an executive order issued by the governor.

DeSantis and other state officials say locating the facility in the rugged and remote Florida Everglades is meant as a deterrent — and naming it after the notorious federal prison of Alcatraz, an island fortress known for its brutal conditions, is meant to send a message. It’s another sign of how the Trump administration and its allies are relying on scare tactics to try to persuade people in the country illegally to leave voluntarily.

State and federal officials have touted the plans on social media and conservative airwaves, sharing a meme of a compound ringed with barbed wire and “guarded” by alligators wearing hats labeled “ICE” for Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The Republican Party of Florida has taken to fundraising off the detention center, selling branded T-shirts and beer koozies emblazoned with the facility’s name.

Anderson reported from St. Petersburg, Florida. Payne reported from Tallahassee, Florida. Associated Press reporters Gisela Salomon in Miami contributed.