María Elvira Salazar says it was a ‘mistake’ not to let legislators talk with ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ inmates

U.S. Rep. María Elvira Salazar says a visit to “Alligator Alcatraz” showed her that the facility “met the highest standards” of federal lockups.

But she added that the people running the Everglades-adjacent illegal immigrant internment facility — which could serve as a prototype for other such lockups around the country — erred in not letting inmates tell legislators they were being treated well.

Salazar, a South Florida Republican, toured the ad-hoc prison at a training airport, which she visited with other federal and state legislators Saturday on a guided tour from the Gov. Ron DeSantis administration.

She argued that it was a “mistake from the authorities” to not allow legislators to talk to inmates, given that they told her they were being treated reasonably well.

“I was able to shout in Spanish. There were like around 40 of them in shackles, and I tried to talk to them,” Salazar said on “Fox & Friends.”

“I asked them, ‘How are they treating you?’ And one of them said, pretty good. The other one said, ah, not so bad. But I really wanted to engage. They did not let me.”

Amenities abounded, the legislator argued.

“I did go in one of those cages. And of course, no one likes to be inside a cage, but I want to tell you that the cages were clean. I sat in one of the beds. They were soft. They had three metal toilets with like a little wall to cover people when they’re doing their business. They had two telephones where they can call their attorneys or their loved ones,” Salazar related.

“Then they took us to another recreational area, also caged in. No one likes to be in a cage, of course, with … some grass where they could run or do some exercise. There was another area where there were Bibles in Spanish … other types of religious material, and another area where they can be sitting with their attorneys.”

Salazar’s take diverges from the read of Democratic state Sen. Shevrin Jones, who described the facility as “deeply disturbing and completely unacceptable.”

“We were technically shown the holding cages — but let’s be clear, we were not allowed to conduct real oversight. Contracted guards blocked our entry, only allowing us to peek in as the men inside chanted ‘¡Libertad, libertad!’ This was not transparency. This was a performance. There was no access to medical tents,” said Jones, who also is from South Florida.

Even as the DeSantis administration is planning a second internment facility in Northeast Florida at Camp Blanding, U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said five other states may set up their own equivalents.

That’s driven in part by the likelihood of federal reimbursement for the spend through the Department of Homeland Security and Federal Emergency Management Agency Shelter and Service funds. Florida expects its $450 million investment, which has been a boon for connected contractors, to be paid back at some point. Presumably the same model applies for other franchisees of the concept.

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