Floor SpeechUrgent2026-04-14

EVERGLADES DETENTION CENTER VISIT

ImmigrationHealthcareTaxesEnvironment

Context

On 2026-04-14, Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL-25) delivered a floor speech titled "EVERGLADES DETENTION CENTER VISIT" in the House. The speech addressed immigration and also covered healthcare, taxes.

Full Text

EVERGLADES DETENTION CENTER VISIT

Congressional Record, Volume 172 Issue 65 (Tuesday, April 14, 2026) [Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 65 (Tuesday, April 14, 2026)] [House] [Page H2841] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [ www.gpo.gov ] EVERGLADES DETENTION CENTER VISIT (Ms. Wasserman Schultz of Florida was recognized to address the House for 5 minutes.) Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Mr. Speaker, last week, I conducted an unannounced oversight visit to the Everglades detention camp the Trump administration and Florida's government despicably named Alligator Alcatraz. While the employees in charge honored the legal requirement to allow me in, for the 3 hours I was there they wouldn't allow me to speak with the people they had put in cages. Because I arrived without notifying ICE, as Federal law allows, they had no time to whitewash the inhumane conditions. I want to tell Americans the truth about what is being done in the middle of our Everglades, in our name, and on our dime. Mr. Speaker, when you walk into this facility's dormitory area, which is a series of massive tents built on top of a tarmac, all you see are cages. Inside were 32 adult men, from ages 18 to 75, all packed into each cage, eight cages per tent, with 1,500 packed in that way in total. The cages are clearly unsanitary. It is dirty and smells like urine. Men used the toilet inside the cages with only an open-sided, pelvis- level wall a few feet from the beds with toilets that have feces remnants in them. So whom have they put in these cages? Are they convicted criminals? Some possibly are. Let's be clear: Convicted criminals should be deported. However, the vast majority are not that. Do they pose an immediate public threat? Under ICE's own risk assessments, the vast majority do not. Yet everyone there suffers, and that suffering is very intentional because cruelty is the point. Some have been held in cages for 6 months or more. Detainees report being beaten, taunted, and pepper-sprayed. Many have disappeared, without a day in court, to distant third countries where they don't speak the language. Haitians have been dumped into Mexico. Cubans have been sent to African countries and jailed on arrival. When I walked through, men cried out for help. An older man was sprawled on his cot, clearly ill. I am certain more are sick. I have seen reports that staff deny access to prescriptions, and several detainees have been hospitalized. They are served tiny meals marked fresh that were clearly dated 2 weeks old. For months, ICE denied detainees' access to lawyers or family, including U.S. citizen kids. A court order finally forced them to install unmonitored phone lines for people inside to call their attorneys. Human rights advocates alleged more violations since then. One harrowing example came just before my visit. On April 2, staff at the facility shut off phones for a full day, cutting contact to the outside world. When detainees protested, officers entered their cages and severely beat them. According to the court filing, one man was ``thrown to the ground and beaten by multiple guards. He suffered injuries to his shoulder . . . and was kicked in the head. A guard placed their knee on his neck. . . . `' Reports say when officers pepper-sprayed everyone in cages, an ``older gentleman passed out, as he could not breathe.'' It begs the basic question: Who is in charge here? ICE argues in court that this is a State facility, immune from Federal law, which is absurd. Immigration is a Federal responsibility. The site is in the middle of a federally protected area on Miccosukee Tribal land under a Federal treaty. Why is ICE hiding behind Florida? Is it so they can try to evade accountability for depriving detained people of basic human rights? As soon as I arrived, I was met by Florida State employees and contractors. During the tour, I asked if ICE had a permanent presence, and they said yes. Any questions I asked about the detainee population were referred to ICE. Yet ICE personnel not only refused to speak with me, they blocked me from talking to the men caged there for months, despite my having signed privacy releases for specific detainees. Three things about this facility are crystal clear: First, while Florida taxpayers bear the costs, ICE is clearly in charge. That means this camp should fall under the same rules as any other ICE facility. Second, it is an ecological disaster. Taxpayers spent billions to restore the Everglades, which is a critical water resource and a homeland for the Miccosukee people. Now we are spending countless tax dollars to produce heaven only knows how much pollution, because ICE never conducted an environmental assessment. Third, this facility makes a mockery of our values. It is an insult to the Bill of Rights, which requires due process and prohibits cruel and usual punishment for all people, not just citizens. It is a gut punch to family members who can only watch loved ones waste away inside dirty cages with no legal recourse. We know this is wrong. We know it is un-American. That is why we must stand up. I watch with pride as my south Florida neighbors mobilize to hold vigils outside the Everglades internment camp and unite in solidarity. For my part, I led Florida Democrats to sponsor legislation to shut this place down and guarantee every Member of Congress can conduct oversight at ICE jails, like I did, to see the truth. Mr. Speaker, this detention camp must be shut down. Our conscience demands it, and I will not rest until the families torn apart by this stain on the State of Florida seek and obtain justice. ____________________

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EVERGLADES DETENTION CENTER VISIT Congressional Record, Volume 172 Issue 65 (Tuesday, April 14, 2026) [Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 65 (Tuesday, April 14, 2026)] [House] [Page H2841] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [ www.gpo.gov ] EVERGLADES DETENTION CENTER VISIT (Ms. Wasserman Schultz of Florida was recognized to address the House for 5 minutes.) Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Mr. Speaker, last week, I conducted an unannounced oversight visit to the Everglades detention camp the Trump administration and Florida's government despicably named Alligator Alcatraz. While the employees in charge honored the legal requirement to allow me in, for the 3 hours I was there they wouldn't allow me to speak with the people they had put in cages. Because I arrived without notifying ICE, as Federal law allows, they had no time to whitewash the inhumane conditions. I want to tell Americans the truth about what is being done in the middle of our Everglades, in our name, and on our dime. Mr. Speaker, when you walk into this facility's dormitory area, which is a series of massive tents built on top of a tarmac, all you see are cages. Inside were 32 adult men, from ages 18 to 75, all packed into each cage, eight cages per tent, with 1,500 packed in that way in total. The cages are clearly unsanitary. It is dirty and smells like urine. Men used the toilet inside the cages with only an open-sided, pelvis- level wall a few feet from the beds with toilets that have feces remnants in them. So whom have they put in these cages? Are they convicted criminals? Some possibly are. Let's be clear: Convicted criminals should be deported. However, the vast majority are not that. Do they pose an immediate public threat? Under ICE's own risk assessments, the vast majority do not. Yet everyone there suffers, and that suffering is very intentional because cruelty is the point. Some have been held in cages for 6 months or more. Detainees report being beaten, taunted, and pepper-sprayed. Many have disappeared, without a day in court, to distant third countries where they don't speak the language. Haitians have been dumped into Mexico. Cubans have been sent to African countries and jailed on arrival. When I walked through, men cried out for help. An older man was sprawled on his cot, clearly ill. I am certain more are sick. I have seen reports that staff deny access to prescriptions, and several detainees have been hospitalized. They are served tiny meals marked fresh that were clearly dated 2 weeks old. For months, ICE denied detainees' access to lawyers or family, including U.S. citizen kids. A court order finally forced them to install unmonitored phone lines for people inside to call their attorneys. Human rights advocates alleged more violations since then. One harrowing example came just before my visit. On April 2, staff at the facility shut off phones for a full day, cutting contact to the outside world. When detainees protested, officers entered their cages and severely beat them. According to the court filing, one man was ``thrown to the ground and beaten by multiple guards. He suffered injuries to his shoulder . . . and was kicked in the head. A guard placed their knee on his neck. . . . `' Reports say when officers pepper-sprayed everyone in cages, an ``older gentleman passed out, as he could not breathe.'' It begs the basic question: Who is in charge here? ICE argues in court that this is a State facility, immune from Federal law, which is absurd. Immigration is a Federal responsibility. The site is in the middle of a federally protected area on Miccosukee Tribal land under a Federal treaty. Why is ICE hiding behind Florida? Is it so they can try to evade accountability for depriving detained people of basic human rights? As soon as I arrived, I was met by Florida State employees and contractors. During the tour, I asked if ICE had a permanent presence, and they said yes. Any questions I asked about the detainee population were referred to ICE. Yet ICE personnel not only refused to speak with me, they blocked me from talking to the men caged there for months, despite my having signed privacy releases for specific detainees. Three things about this facility are crystal clear: First, while Florida taxpayers bear the costs, ICE is clearly in charge. That means this camp should fall under the same rules as any other ICE facility. Second, it is an ecological disaster. Taxpayers spent billions to restore the Everglades, which is a critical water resource and a homeland for the Miccosukee people. Now we are spending countless tax dollars to produce heaven only knows how much pollution, because ICE never conducted an environmental assessment. Third, this facility makes a mockery of our values. It is an insult to the Bill of Rights, which requires due process and prohibits cruel and usual punishment for all people, not just citizens. It is a gut punch to family members who can only watch loved ones waste away inside dirty cages with no legal recourse. We know this is wrong. We know it is un-American. That is why we must stand up. I watch with pride as my south Florida neighbors mobilize to hold vigils outside the Everglades internment camp and unite in solidarity. For my part, I led Florida Democrats to sponsor legislation to shut this place down and guarantee every Member of Congress can conduct oversight at ICE jails, like I did, to see the truth. Mr. Speaker, this detention camp must be shut down. Our conscience demands it, and I will not rest until the families torn apart by this stain on the State of Florida seek and obtain justice. ____________________