Allegations of poor conditions at Florida’s new migrant detention center — dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz” — are drawing national scrutiny after a Washington Post report featured complaints from detainees and former staffers. But the narrative surrounding the $450 million facility is sharply divided along partisan lines.
The detention center, officially greenlit by the Trump administration in June and constructed to house up to 5,000 migrants and foreign nationals, has become a flashpoint in the immigration debate. Anonymous detainees cited in the Post report described inadequate sanitation, limited access to showers, stagnant water pooling on floors, a lack of basic toiletries, and cold ham sandwiches served daily. Some even resorted to crafting soccer balls from towels and dominoes from lunchbox cardboard to pass the time.
One detainee claimed to have gone four days without a shower. Another said there was no running water in the shower area. Mosquitoes were also a concern, with detainees and staff warning of the risk of disease in the absence of bug spray.
On Saturday, a bipartisan delegation of state and federal lawmakers toured the facility — becoming the first elected officials to do so. But their takeaways couldn’t have been more different.
Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), who participated in the site visit, compared the facility to an “internment camp.” She highlighted sanitation issues and criticized the dual-use sinks on toilet tanks — where detainees reportedly brush their teeth and get drinking water.
Wasserman Schultz also raised alarms about meal quality, alleging detainees were fed “gray turkey and cheese sandwiches, an apple, and chips,” while lawmakers and federal staff were served full hot meals. CNN reported similar accounts.
Republican lawmakers and Florida officials dismissed the claims as political theater. Florida Emergency Management Director Kevin Guthrie, who led the delegation’s tour, said some observations were exaggerated or misleading.
In one instance, Guthrie said a member of the delegation pointed an infrared thermometer at a lightbulb, which falsely registered 110 degrees. Guthrie corrected the error, explaining that ambient air temperature should have been measured instead.
As for the “gray turkey” sandwiches, Guthrie pushed back, saying the sandwiches were sealed and the congresswoman was several feet away, raising doubts about her characterization. “This is the same food served in hospitals and schools — including during the Obama administration,” he said on Fox News.
Florida State Sen. Blaise Ingoglia (R) was more direct: “The rhetoric does not match the reality,” he told Politico. “It’s basically all political theater coming from the [Democrats]. What they’re saying is pure bullshit.”
The Alligator Alcatraz facility represents the Trump administration’s broader posture toward illegal immigration: streamlined, hardened detention and deportation infrastructure, positioned as a deterrent and a measure of national security. At the same time, Democrats and immigration advocates continue to challenge the humanitarian and ethical implications of large-scale detainment.
