Five state Democratic lawmakers, who were denied entry to Florida’s Alligator Alcatraz earlier this month, sued Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) Thursday, arguing he didn’t have the authority to block their effort to conduct oversight of the migrant detention facility.
“The DeSantis Administration’s refusal to let us in wasn’t some bureaucratic misstep,” the lawmakers said in a joint statement, as reported by The Associated Press. “It was a deliberate obstruction meant to hide what’s really happening behind those gates.”
The lawmakers on Saturday were turned away from the detention facility, which is in the Florida Everglades and is overseen by the state. In the state Supreme Court lawsuit, the plaintiffs argue state law does not inhibit their efforts to conduct legislative oversight of the facility.
“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,” the statement from the lawmakers reads.
The group is suing DeSantis as well as the head of Florida’s emergency management agency, Kevin Guthrie.
A a spokesperson from DeSantis’s office described the suit as “dumb” and “frivolous.”
Democrats have railed against the remote facility, describing it as “cruel and inhumane.”
Earlier this month, Florida state Rep. Angie Nixon, one of the lawsuit’s plaintiffs, described it as “Donald Trump building modern-day concentration camps in an effort to disappear people from our communities. “
Alongside Nixon, Democratic state Reps. Anna Eskamani and Michele Rayner as well as state Sens. Shevrin Jones (D) and Carlos Guillermo Smith (D) joined the suit.
President Trump and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem attended the opening of the detention facility July 1. Trump has lauded the project, which is expected to cost at least $450 million a year.
A coalition of environmental groups have also sued the Trump administration over the facility over concerns it could endanger wildlife in nearby nature preserves.
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