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Florida lawmakers tour ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ after being blocked
OCHOPEE, Fla. (AP) — Democratic lawmakers condemned Florida’s new Everglades immigration detention center after visiting Saturday, describing it as crowded, unsanitary and bug-infested. Republicans on the same tour said they saw nothing of the sort at the remote facility that officials have dubbed “ Alligator Alcatraz.”
The state-arranged tour came after some Democrats were blocked earlier from viewing the 3,000-bed detention center that the state rapidly built on an isolated airstrip surrounded by swampland. So many state legislators and members of Congress turned up Saturday that they were split into multiple groups.
“There are really disturbing, vile conditions and this place needs to be shut the hell down,” Rep. U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, a Democrat, told reporters after visiting the agglomeration of tents, trailers and temporary buildings. “This place is a stunt, and they’re abusing human beings here.”
Cage-style units of 32 men share three combination toilet-sink devices, the visitors measured the temperature at 83 degrees (28 degrees Celsius) in a housing area entranceway and 85 (29 Celsius) in a medical intake area, and grasshoppers and other insects abound, she and her fellow Florida Democrats said.
Although the visitors said they weren’t able to speak with the detainees, Rep. Maxwell Alejandro Frost, a Democrat, said one called out “I’m an American citizen!” and others chanted “Libertad!,” a Spanish word for “freedom.”
State Sen. Blaise Ingoglia, a Republican from Florida, countered that he had seen a well-run, safe facility where the living quarters were clean and the air conditioning worked well.
“The rhetoric coming out of the Democrats does not match the reality,” said Ingoglia, who said he toured in the same group as Wasserman Schultz. Ingoglia recalled that a handful of detainees became “a little raucous” when the visitors appeared but said he didn’t make out what they were saying.
State Sen. Jay Collins said he was in another group and also found the detention center clean and well functioning: “No squalor.”
Collins, a Republican, said he noticed backup generators, a tracking system for dietary restrictions and military-style bunks with good mattresses. The sanitation devices struck him as appropriate, if basic.
“Would I want that toilet-and-sink combination at my bathroom at the house? Probably not, but this is a transitional holding facility,” Collins said by phone.
Journalists weren’t allowed on the tour, and lawmakers were instructed not to bring phones or cameras inside.
Messages seeking comment were sent to the state Division of Emergency Management, which built the facility, and to representatives for Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican. DeSantis spokesperson Molly Best highlighted one of Ingoglia’s upbeat readouts on social media.
Across the state in Tampa, federal Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said that “any issues that were there have been addressed” at the Everglades detention center. She added that she had been talking with five other Republican governors, whom she didn’t identify, about modeling other facilities on it.
DeSantis and fellow Republicans have touted the makeshift detention center, constructed in a matter of days, as an efficient and get-tough response to President Donald Trump’s call for mass deportations. The first detainees arrived July 3, after Trump toured and praised the facility.
Described as temporary, the detention center is meant to help the Republican president’s administration reach its goal of boosting the United States’ migrant detention capacity from 41,000 people to at least 100,000. The Florida facility’s remote location and its name — a nod to the notorious Alcatraz prison that once housed federal inmates in California — are meant to underscore a message of deterring illegal immigration.
Ahead of the facility’s opening, state officials said detainees would have access to medical care, consistent air conditioning, a recreation yard, attorneys and clergy members.
But detainees and their relatives and advocates have told The Associated Press that conditions are awful, with worm-infested food, toilets overflowing onto floors, mosquitoes buzzing around the fenced bunks, and air conditioners that sometimes shut off in the oppressive South Florida summer heat. One man told his wife that detainees go days without getting showers.
Florida Division of Emergency Management spokesperson Stephanie Hartman called those descriptions “completely false,” saying detainees always get three meals a day, unlimited drinking water, showers and other necessities.
“The facility meets all required standards and is in good working order,” she said.
Five Democratic state lawmakers tried to visit the site on July 3 but said they were denied access. The state subsequently arranged Saturday’s tour.
The lawmakers have sued over the denial, saying that DeSantis’ administration is impeding lawmakers’ oversight authority. A DeSantis spokesperson has called the lawsuit “dumb.”
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Peltz reported from New York, and Rodriguez reported from Ochopee.
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Portugal holds day of mourning after Lisbon funicular accident kills 17 | Transport News
Crash of the historic Elevador da Gloria funicular is one of Lisbon’s deadliest transport accidents in years.
Published On 3 Sep 2025
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Updated: an hour ago
Portugal is holding a day of mourning after at least 17 people were killed when Lisbon’s Elevador da Gloria funicular derailed and crashed.
The Portuguese government said the country would observe a day of mourning on Thursday to commemorate the victims, all of whom have been recovered from the wreckage, according to the emergency services.
The tram, one of Lisbon’s major tourist attractions, came off the rails and hit a building late on Wednesday afternoon. Authorities on Thursday raised the death toll to 17 people, with a further 21 injured.
Officials have not released the victims’ identities or nationalities but initially said some of the deceased were foreign nationals. On Thursday, they reported that at least 11 of the injured were foreign.
The Portuguese government quickly announced the day of national mourning. Officials in Lisbon have declared three days of mourning in the capital city.
“It’s a tragic day for our city … Lisbon is in mourning. It is a tragic, tragic incident,” Mayor Carlos Moedas told reporters at the scene.
President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa expressed condolences over the “tragedy”.
Investigation
Footage from the crash site showed the yellow carriage lying mangled against a building as firefighters pulled passengers from the wreckage. Emergency crews worked into the night to clear debris from the steep hillside railway.
The president has directed the concerned authorities to swiftly determine the cause of the accident.
“The public prosecutor’s office will open an investigation,” the attorney general’s office said in a statement, according to national news agency Lusa.
It added that the public prosecutor’s office “is carrying out the necessary procedures, within the scope of its powers, particularly for the purpose of preserving evidence, with guidance and in coordination with police agencies”.
The police, national transport safety authority and Carris, the company that runs the Gloria funicular, are also investigating the cause of the accident, according to reports.
Lisbon’s fire department said a loose cable caused the funicular to lose control and slam into a building. The accident took place just after 6pm (17:00 GMT) during rush hour, according to local media.
Images circulating online showed one car flipped beside the rails and surrounded by debris while passengers scrambled to safety. Video footage aired by CNN Portugal captured another car jolting violently on the track with panicked passengers leaping from windows.
The Elevador da Gloria, which first opened in 1885, links the Baixa district with the Bairro Alto neighbourhood, offering sweeping views of the city. Operated by Lisbon’s public transport company Carris, it is one of three historic funicular lines and serves both residents and tourists.
The funicular operates on a counterweight system with two cars connected by a cable and powered by electric motors. While the lower car appeared largely intact, the upper carriage sustained significant damage.
Lisbon has seen a surge in tourism in recent years, and summer draws large numbers of visitors to its narrow streets and historic districts. The Elevador da Gloria is among the city’s best-known attractions, and Wednesday’s crash is one of Portugal’s deadliest transport accidents in recent memory.
While Lindsay Arnold will be cheering on sister Rylee Arnold, she won’t be competing on Dancing With the Stars herself.
“The answer is no,” she shared in an Aug. 29 TikTok video. “I will not be doing Dancing With the Stars this next season.”
Ultimately, the Mirrorball champion, who last vied for the trophy on season 30, noted it’s the right move for her and her family, who include daughters Sage and June with husband Sam Cusick.
“I just know that I’m exactly where I need to be,” she added, “and where I should be.”
But if Lindsay ever did want to return, she’d have to be the one to ask.
“Since the season that I stepped away from the show, never once have the producers been like, ‘Oh please come back’ or asked me to come back,” the dancer, who joined DWTS in 2013 as a pro and has also performed as a troupe member, continued. “If I wanted to come back at this point I would definitely need to express that desire to the producers of the show. And then, it still wouldn’t even be a guarantee.”
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