By admin 
Seven Florida Democratic members of Congress said they were deceived and are demanding answers from Gov. Ron DeSantis about the use of small metal cages at the now-closed immigration detention center dubbed Alligator Alcatraz.
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In Tuesday addressed to DeSantis, the lawmakers requested that the state provide a list of all records and evidence related to the controversial detention center and asked whether Attorney General James Uthmeier — who came up with the idea to erect the facility in the middle of the Everglades — had assessed the state’s potential civil liability over its treatment of detainees.
The letter follows the release of an inspection report by the Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General, which found that the detention facility, whose operations were overseen by the Florida Division of Emergency Management, violated a host of federal and state detention standards.
The letter was signed by U.S. Reps. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Kathy Castor, Lois Frankel, Maxwell Frost, Jared Moskowitz, Darren Soto and Frederica Wilson. The lawmakers said they were “sickened by the revelations.”
The governor’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The federal government’s watchdog investigators found that detainees were sometimes confined in small metal cages, which staff described as “calming areas.” But former immigrants who were detained there nicknamed the cage “The Box” and said it was used for punishment.
“The Inspector General report not only confirms many allegations of sadistic cruelty that we saw or were reported by detainees, but sheds light on why the Trump Administration and Florida’s state government worked overtime to block transparency and accountability,” the letter said.
The members of Congress said they were denied access to view the cages during their oversight visits and were told by DHS and state employees that “detainee reports of their existence and use for punitive or coercive purposes were categorically false.”
“We were deceived. It is now clear that this was intended to mislead public officials at public expense,” the legislators wrote.
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They are now demanding to know who instructed employees to lie.
READ MORE: Sworn court testimony reveals conditions at hastily assembled Alligator Alcatraz
The members of Congress said the use of the cage at the facility constitutes cruel and unusual punishment under the Constitution. They requested DeSantis provide a count of how many detainees held at Alligator Alcatraz were subjected to treatment that would constitute torture under U.S. and international law.
The Trump and DeSantis administrations have dismissed allegations of inhumane treatment from detainees and immigration advocates as hoaxes.
The governor’s office acknowledged the small cages on Monday, following the release of the report. A spokesman said that if the administration could, it would make the cages “even smaller.
Lawmakers are requesting that DeSantis submit a full list of records retained from the detention center, including digital communications and any evidence they said would be relevant to future investigations.
This story was originally published September 15, 2026 at 5:29 PM with the headline “‘We were deceived’: U.S. Reps demand answers from DeSantis on Alligator Alcatraz.”