Press Releases

Ochopee, FL – Today, U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL-25) made an unannounced visit to conduct an oversight inspection of the Everglades Detention Center. Last summer, Democratic Members of Florida’s Congressional Delegation were given a sanitized tour of the site by Florida’s Division of Emergency Management (FDEM) and federal officials. Members promised to conduct an unannounced review of the site at a future date.

For B-Roll of the press conference, click here. For audio from the press call, click here.

“Like nine months ago, I came away with the reaction that this facility is inhumane, that the way the detainees are housed is cruel and unnecessary, that ICE is hiding behind Florida state agencies to avoid any obligation to treat people humanely, and that the cost of the facility itself is being hidden behind the state of Florida,” said Wasserman Schultz. “On many of the questions that I had about how decisions are made about, they said that I had to talk to someone from ICE – who was on the premises – but refused to talk to me following the tour.”

While in the facility, Wasserman Schultz saw an area with just under 1,500 detainees housed in cages. That area smelled of urine, was humid, and “wall-to-wall men.” Toilets and sinks were stained and dirty, and not private. Food marked as ‘fresh’ was nearly two weeks old and served in small portions.

Despite arguments in court that the facility is solely state-run and thus not subject to Federal humane detention standards, Wasserman Schultz was told ICE maintained an active daily presence at the facility. FDEM staff repeatedly deferred questions regarding day-to-day detention operations to ICE. Wasserman Schultz was also denied access to meet with detained people who had filled out privacy waivers in advance or to hear from them directly.

Wasserman Schultz has championed a provision in the Department of Homeland Security funding law that prohibits any Administration from using funds to prevent a Member of Congress from entering any facility where immigrants are detained. Detainees have reported being treated inhumanely, denied access to medication and medical treatment, being sent to a punishment cell, and more to Wasserman Schultz’s office. Wasserman Schultz previously visited the facility in July with fellow Members of Congress and state elected officials, but it was a state government-run tour that she described as “sanitized” and “whitewashed.”

The Everglades Detention Center has cost Florida taxpayers at least $640 million in state funding, and analysts have estimated that its operations cost $1.2 million per day and roughly $1.1 billion per year. Sixty-five percent of detainees do not have a criminal history and only 27 percent are categorized as ‘high threat’ by ICE.

Wasserman Schultz is the lead sponsor of legislation that would prohibit the use of federal funds to construct, reimburse, or operate any detention facility in the Everglades. The No Cages in the Everglades Act would also permanently codify the appropriations provision barring any Administration from preventing Members of Congress or their staff from conducting oversight visits at detention facilities, with no exceptions for facilities operated by State or local governments or by private contractors.

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