Florida Supreme Court sends Dems’ lawsuit over ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ to lower court

The Florida Supreme Court transferred to the state trial court in Tallahassee a lawsuit filed by Democratic lawmakers seeking access to the immigrant detention center in the Everglades.

The justices on Monday sent the legislators’ request for their intervention to the Second Judicial Circuit. However, the justices noted that the transfer should not be read as a judgment on the merits of the Democrats’ suit.

However, the transfer likely will have the effect of delaying resolution of the case.

“We look forward to fighting in any court,” Orlando Democratic Rep. Anna Eskamani wrote in a text message to Florida Phoenix. She is one of five state legislators who were denied entry when they tried to conduct an oversight visit on July 3 to the detention center in the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport.

After the denial, the Florida Division of Emergency Management, the state agency in charge of the detention center, offered a tour to state lawmakers and Congress members on Saturday. Eskamani and other Democrats said the tour prompted more questions than the answers they got, and that they weren’t allowed to speak with any of the detainees.

The lawmakers argued in their petition to the Supreme Court on July 10 that their exclusion from the detention center violated state law as well as the Florida Constitution by eroding the separation of powers and improperly restricting the authority of a co-equal branch of government.

Florida Republicans are calling the site “Alligator Alcatraz” and raising campaign cash by hawking related merchandise.

Florida Phoenix is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Florida Phoenix maintains editorial independence. Contact Michael Moline for questions: info@floridaphoenix.com. Follow Florida Phoenix on Facebook and Twitter.

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This article appears in Jul 9-15, 2025.