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Five state Democratic lawmakers were denied access to Florida Crocodile officials earlier this month, suing Ron DeSantis (R) Thursday, who believes he has no right to stop their efforts to monitor immigration detention centers.
“The DeSantis administration’s refusal to let us join is not a bureaucratic lapse,” lawmakers said in a joint statement, as reported by the Associated Press. “It’s a deliberate obstacle to hide what’s really going on behind those doors.”
Saturday’s lawmakers were far away from the Florida Everglades detention center and were supervised by the state. In a lawsuit in the state Supreme Court, the plaintiffs argued that state law did not curb their efforts to legislative oversight of the facility.
“There is no regulation that allows the governor to overturn the oversight of the legislature. The lawsuit aims to defend the rule of law, protect vulnerable groups within the facility, and stop excessive normalization of executives,” the legislator’s statement said.
The group is suing DeSantis and the head of Florida emergency management agency Kevin Guthrie.
A spokesman for DeSantis’s office described the lawsuit as “stupid” and “flirtatious.”
Democrats oppose remote facilities, describing them as “cruel and inhumane.”
Earlier this month, Florida Rep. Angie Nixon, one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, described it as “Donald Trump has established a modern concentration camp to get people out of our community.”
Along with Nixon, Democratic Representatives Anna Eskamani and Michele Rayner, as well as Shevrin Jones (D) and Carlos Guillermo Smith (D) of the State joined the lawsuit.
President Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem attended the opening of the detention center on July 1. Trump has praised the project, which is expected to cost at least $450 million a year.
The Coalition of Environmental Groups has also sued the Trump administration for its concern about the facility because it could endanger wildlife in nearby nature.