Five state lawmakers who were denied access to a migrant detention center in the Everglades that state Attorney General James Uthmeier has nicknamed "Alligator Alcatraz" are suing Gov. Ron DeSantis, reported The Associated Press.
"The DeSantis Administration's refusal to let us in wasn't some bureaucratic misstep," the lawmakers said in a joint statement. "It was a deliberate obstruction meant to hide what's really happening behind those gates.
"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 lawsuit by state Sens. Shevrin Jones and Carlos Guillermo Smith and state Reps. Anna Eskamani, Angie Nixon, and Michele Rayner was filed Sunday, a day after DeSantis invited state and federal lawmakers to attend a guided, 90-minute tour of the facility.
Sierra Dean, a spokesperson for the governor's office, told the Miami Herald that the Florida Division of Emergency Management "invited all Florida legislators to tour Alligator Alcatraz this weekend."
"Today, five Democrat legislators responded by filing a frivolous lawsuit demanding access to Alligator Alcatraz. The State is looking forward to quickly dispensing with this dumb lawsuit," she added.
Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
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