JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Florida State Rep. Angie Nixon, D-Jacksonville, said on Thursday she was denied access to the newly opened immigration detention center dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz” in South Florida.
In a video posted to social media on Thursday, Nixon said she and other lawmakers traveled to the detention site in the Florida Everglades to ensure the detainees were being treated “safely, humanely, with dignity and respect.” However, she said they were denied access due to “safety” concerns.
“That’s more reason for us to be here and wanting to gain access to ensure that the detainees are being treated humanely, and that it’s safe for them to be there,” Nixon said in the video. “We want to make sure that there’s no flooding. We want to make sure that nothing is breaking down, and they won’t let us go in.”
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Tuesday’s official opening of “Alligator Alcatraz” was marked by a visit from President Donald Trump, who was welcomed by Gov. Ron DeSantis and other state officials.
“Pretty soon, this facility will handle the most menacing migrants, some of the most vicious people on the planet,” Trump said.
The detention site was built in eight days over 10 miles of the Everglades. It features more than 200 security cameras, 28,000-plus feet (8,500 meters) of barbed wire and 400 security personnel. Once it’s fully operational, it will have a capacity to house about 3,000 detainees.
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier came up with the idea of building the detention center in that location. He also came up with the controversial name “Alligator Alcatraz.”
“If somebody were to get out, there’s nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, only the alligators and pythons are waiting. That’s why I like to call it ‘Alligator Alcatraz,’” Uthmeier told Fox Business.
The detention center has received significant pushback from state officials, community members, environmental activists and Native Americans advocating for their ancestral homeland.
MORE | Protesters line highway in Florida Everglades to oppose ‘Alligator Alcatraz’
Nixon is among the state lawmakers who have openly rejected the construction of “Alligator Alcatraz.”
“They have something to hide. We don’t know if they have women and children there, we don’t know if they have enough bathrooms, if they have enough beds,” Nixon told News4JAX on Friday. “It’s just a waste of taxpayer money. It’s a waste and they’re treating people inhumanely.”
Nixon described the outside of the detention site.
“We were immediately met with basically ravaging mosquitoes,” Nixon said. “We saw water rising, in addition to that, we saw alligators out there,” she said.
After posting the video on Thursday, Nixon then took to Twitter on Friday to condemn state officials for not allowing her entry to the facility.
@GovRonDeSantis @JamesUthmeierFL @realDonaldTrump @Sec_Noem if you have nothing to hide, then you should let state lawmakers in right now! Let the media in now! Let them go live to ensure people aren’t being tortured and aren’t suffering in a flooded facility without restrooms.
— State Rep. Angie Nixon (@AngieNixon) July 4, 2025
During a recent interview with CNN, Nixon called the ICE detention centers being built across the country “inhumane.”
“So this isn’t about safety, this is actually about Donald Trump building modern-day concentration camps in an effort to disappear people from our communities. Donald Trump’s blueprint for America has now become. Barbed wire and broken families, you don’t make America great again by doing these types of things,” Nixon said.
According to Florida statutes 944.23 and 951.225, lawmakers are allowed to visit all state correctional institutions “at their pleasure,” and county and municipal detention facilities.
“We do have plans to return, hopefully next week. We also have plans to push some legal remedy as well,” Nixon said.
News4JAX reached out to the governor’s office to ask why the lawmakers were denied access to the facility and what the law says regarding announced visits. At the time of this publication, we hadn’t heard back.
