JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2014 Alligator Alcatraz is now open with its first group of undocumented immigrant detainees housed in Florida\u2019s Everglades. <\/p>\n
However, some Jacksonville-based organizations and state representatives are now speaking out against the massive immigration detention facility.<\/p>\n
>>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <\/b><\/a><\/p>\n \u201cWe asked to have our school systems, our public school system, fully funded. We asked to ensure that we had mental health work programs for first responders, as well as for our teenagers. And guess what, Governor DeSantis, a few days before he threw up this makeshift detention camp? He vetoed a ton of appropriations to address those issues,\u201d Florida State Representative Angie Nixon complained to Action News Jax Saturday.<\/p>\n Action News Jax showed up close this week<\/b><\/a> as President Donald Trump, Governor Ron DeSantis, and other state and federal officials toured the new facility, surrounded by alligator-infested waters.<\/p>\n Later in the week, Representative Nixon went to the Everglades and tried to visit the facility herself. She and others raised concerns about the conditions for both the detainees and officers working there.<\/p>\n While Nixon says she was turned away due to what was cited as safety concerns, federal officials reassured Tuesday that the facility is held to the highest safety standards for its detainees.<\/p>\n [DOWNLOAD: <\/b>Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks<\/b><\/a>]<\/b><\/p>\n \u201cA higher standard than is required at the state levels, at local department of corrections facilities, sheriff\u2019s offices,\u201d explained Kristi Noem, with the US Department of Homeland Security. \u201cThis is a state-of-the-art facility.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIf they had safety concerns for us going in there, then they should definitely have safety concerns for those folks that they detained without due process,\u201d Representative Nixon expressed.<\/p>\n Now, Representative Nixon says she\u2019d like to see Alligator Alcatraz shut down, with plans for a new immigration facility like it in Camp Blanding<\/b><\/a> <\/b>put to rest.<\/p>\n Nixon is also demanding improved transparency from the facilities in the meantime.<\/p>\n [SIGN UP: <\/b>Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter<\/b><\/a>] <\/b><\/p>\n \u201cWe have a statutory right to be able to enter into any facility that is run by the state as it relates to being a detention center, and they denied us that,\u201d Representative Nixon claimed Saturday. \u201cThey broke the law.\u201d<\/p>\n Action News Jax reached out to both the governor and the state attorney\u2019s office for a response to Representative Nixon\u2019s access being denied and the legality of it. <\/p>\n We are still awaiting a response.<\/p>\n Click here<\/b><\/a> to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, <\/b>click here<\/b><\/a> to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and <\/b>click here<\/b><\/a> to stream Action News Jax live.<\/b><\/p>\n Action News Jax Top Stories<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2014 Alligator Alcatraz is now open with its first group of undocumented immigrant detainees housed in…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":43047,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5136],"tags":[12189,15619,18004,5229,33767,33772,3186,3188,723,3153,33768,5410,11561,7310,425,12188,33771,33773,33769,27111,33770,290,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-43046","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-jacksonville","8":"tag-action_news","9":"tag-action_news_jack","10":"tag-alcatraz","11":"tag-america","12":"tag-angie_nixon","13":"tag-camp_blanding","14":"tag-everglades","15":"tag-fl","16":"tag-florida","17":"tag-governor","18":"tag-governor_de_sanchez","19":"tag-ice","20":"tag-jack","21":"tag-jacksonville","22":"tag-local","23":"tag-logan_mcdonald","24":"tag-nixon","25":"tag-northwest_jacksonville","26":"tag-president_donald_trump","27":"tag-representative","28":"tag-ron_de_santos","29":"tag-state","30":"tag-united-states","31":"tag-united-states-of-america","32":"tag-unitedstates","33":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","34":"tag-us","35":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114805651778267169","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43046","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43046"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43046\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43047"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43046"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43046"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43046"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}