LIVE | Florida “Alligator Alcatraz” ICE Tour Sparks Heated Debate | ICE Raids | ICE Protest | N18G - video Dailymotion

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LIVE | Florida , Alligator Alcatraz,  ICE Tour Sparks Heated Debate | ICE Raids | ICE Protest | N18G   #iceraids #iceprotest #florida  In a state-arranged tour at the remote Everglades detention center—dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz”—Florida lawmakers, including U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, finally inspected the controversial facility after initial access was denied. The sprawling camp, capable of housing up to 3,000 (and built for 5,000 beds), sits on an isolated airstrip surrounded by swampland in Ochopee, Fla   #iceraids #iceprotest #florida #news18live #news18

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00:00At that time to incarcerate our entire community were really based on false narratives and

00:06ultimately it was about a political agenda and I think that is very much what we are seeing playing

00:12out today. And John a moment ago we just saw a black and white picture of a young man that I'm

00:17told is your dad. How old was your dad at that time? He was 17 years old when he was forced into

00:26incarceration. Obviously became an adult while he was incarcerated for four full years and those

00:35scars ran very deep. I don't think anybody who went through that experience ever fully recovered about

00:44it. Many in his generation never spoke about it to their family members and you know that trauma

00:51it's been well documented has multi-generational impacts and certainly has driven a lot of the

00:59work that I've done to ensure that this country is educated about what took place, about the fact

01:09that this government has acknowledged that that shameful chapter in American history was based on

01:16racism and a failure of political leadership and the fact that frankly in 1942 it was politically

01:24popular to round up Japanese Americans and incarcerate them. And it is extremely distressing to see that

01:33that is exactly where our country is right now. It has nothing to do with these immigrants and whether

01:40or not they have committed crimes. We see that with many who are trying to follow the lawful procedures

01:47of this country by seeking asylum. They're being ripped out of courtrooms. So it has nothing to do with

01:53whether or not immigrants are trying to lawfully be in this country. There is an all-out assault on

02:01immigrants and you know frankly it is a very dark time in this country once again.

02:09John Osaki thank you so much for being with us. Thank you for helping to put things in perspective

02:14as well as bring context to the parallels of what happened during World War II and now today.

02:22Appreciate you.

02:22...manitarian concerns over the site. The Trump administration has dubbed the facility

02:27Alligator Alcatraz since it's located deep in the marshy wetlands of the Everglades

02:33surrounded by dangerous wildlife. CNN's Rafael Romo is joining us right now. What more can you tell

02:38us about the tour? Did it happen? Are they getting access? And then what have they seen?

02:43Well they get in. That much we know and they're slowly coming out and making their statements.

02:48But this is something that happened because after being denied access to the immigrant detention

02:53facility several Florida state lawmakers sued Governor Ron DeSantis and his director of the

02:59Florida Department of Emergency Management Kevin Guthrie who runs the site. In the lawsuit the

03:03legislators say they have the legal right to have unannounced access to all the facilities recently

03:10built at the Dade Collier Training and Transition Airport dubbed the Alligator Alcatraz Detention Center

03:16adding that both DeSantis and Guthrie quote have exercised the governor's emergency powers beyond their

03:23authority. The Florida Division of Emergency Management agreed to host the tour of the

03:28facility today between 11 a.m. and 12 30 p.m. Eastern Time but only for Florida state legislators

03:35and members of Congress. Lawmakers like Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz a Democrat say they have

03:42heard from relatives of those detained as well as immigrant rights groups that the detainees are

03:48enduring things like bugs in their food an infestation of mosquitoes sleeping with the lights on and not

03:55getting access to an attorney. This is what Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz had to say before trying to get

04:01access to the site earlier today. The conditions that we saw inside this internment camp which it is

04:11is nothing less than that description were were really appalling. These detainees are living in cages. I, I, I, the, the, the

04:22pictures that you've seen don't do it justice. They are essentially packed into cages, wall to wall humans, 32 detainees per cage.

04:35Again, this happened in just a few moments ago after all these lawmakers came out. Then earlier this week, Fred, I

04:44spoke with a Guatemalan woman whose husband is detained that alligator Alcatraz. Among other things, she told me her

04:50husband is enduring mosquitoes, unbearable heat and humidity, insufficient washing facilities, hard beds and bad food. She

04:58also told me her husband was only able to take one shower in a six-day period and that he has not had

05:05access to an attorney so far. On Thursday, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said people need to remember he

05:12said that alligator Alcatraz is not a hotel. Let's take a listen.

05:18It is a center to process illegal aliens and then to provide a pad to deport them from the

05:26runway that's right there. We did not create the four seasons. That's not the intent of this.

05:32All the standards are a lot higher than what was even required.

05:37And Fred, in addition to the current heat and humidity inside the tents and the abundance of

05:41mosquitoes, immigrant rights groups also worry about the opening of a migrant detention center in the

05:46middle of a hurricane season. We were talking about it a couple of hours ago. One of the lawmakers said

05:52that's precisely the question he has. What's going to happen if there's a hurricane, if there's a

05:57powerful storm? Right, because it's very early on and usually that route is usually two lane in most

06:02places, you know, in order to get to that location around the Everglades. And so it would be a difficult

06:09way to get out quickly. Especially for a lot of people.

06:12Some people. Yes. All right. Thanks so much, Rafael. Appreciate it. All right. The opening of this

06:18controversial detention center in the Florida Everglades is bringing up painful reminders of

06:23detention camps from the past for some Americans, specifically Japanese-American internment camps,

06:31which the U.S. government set up during World War II when the government forcibly relocated and

06:36incarcerated more than 100,000 people of Japanese descent. I'm joined now by John Osaki.

06:42He is the executive director of the Japanese Community Youth Center in San Francisco. John,

06:46good to see you. Thanks for having me. So you're not alone in seeing these deep parallels between

06:53the so-called alligator Alcatraz and the targeting of Japanese Americans during World War II who were

06:59rounded up, incarcerated. You heard Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz just a moment ago who is

07:06touring the facility there in the Everglades. So talk to me about the parallels you're seeing and how

07:11this is really turning up some very disturbing emotions.

07:18Well, in 1942, Japanese-Americans were criminalized based solely on their race. And it is extremely

07:27disturbing for many in our community to see immigrants being criminalized. It has nothing to do with whether

07:34or not they have actually committed a crime. And there are many painful memories that are coming

07:41up for many in our community, the lack of due process, the fact that folks are being rounded up

07:47indiscriminately. And our community has worked for decades to try to ensure that this shameful chapter in

07:56American history did not repeat itself. And so it is horrifying for many of us to see that that is

08:03exactly what is happening. And then tell me, too, how in many Japanese-American households, I mean,

08:08these scars are deep. I mean, the trauma is still felt, you know, from World War II. And to only hear about

08:14what is happening now just seems to stir up some of those same feelings.

08:20Well, my mother and father were both incarcerated during World War II. And they had never been to Japan. They

08:32had no connection to the Japanese Imperial military. And they were their only crime was being Japanese at

08:40that time. And I think what is so disturbing to so many of us in our community is the fact that

08:49there are no charges being leveled other than people being immigrants. In this case, there is no due

08:57process for them. That's what happened to many of the individuals in our community who were had no trials.

09:07There had no charges at the time. And in fact, you know, it came out later that

LIVE | Florida “Alligator Alcatraz” ICE Tour Sparks Heated Debate | ICE Raids | ICE Protest | N18G

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