But Democrats said they were given a sanitized version of the detention center, which includes tents for detainees, who are held in chain-link cells, and travel cubicles for staff. They said they were not permitted to speak to the detainees.
v
“Legislators were taken on a dog and pony show that confirmed our concerns about human rights violations and inhumane treatment and answered none of our questions,” state Senate Democratic leader Lori Berman said in a statement. “We certainly saw nothing that justifies the half a billion dollars that this camp is going to cost Floridians.”
Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Florida) said in an interview that the detainees appeared crowded into cages. “There were eight cages of 32 detainees on either side, crammed in like sardines,” she said.
The lawmakers were not permitted to take any electronics on the tour, but Wasserman Shultz said she took a thermometer.
“It was 83 degrees at the threshold, which is as far as they would let us go inside the tents,” Wasserman Schultz said. “And I know it had to be even hotter in the middle of the tent.”
But Florida Republicans who also toured the site Saturday said Democrats were misrepresenting the conditions at the detention center.
“The place is well run, safe, secure, clean and air-conditioned,” state Sen. Blaise Ingoglia, a Republican, said on X. “I actually laid down in one of the beds and it was really comfortable.”
