A group of Florida Democratic lawmakers said Thursday that they were denied access to the new “Alligator Alcatraz” immigrant detention facility due to “safety concerns.” The denied legislative oversight visit came less than one day after the first batch of illegal immigrants arrived at the Everglades facility.

In a surprising and possibly unlawful act, five state legislators were denied entry Thursday into a taxpayer-funded migrant detention center deep in the Everglades, raising questions about what will happen behind the razor-wire fences that are being erected surrounding the controversial facility the state has named Alligator Alcatraz.