After being denied entry to Alligator Alcatraz last week, Florida’s state and federal lawmakers have now been invited to tour the ICE detention center in the Everglades on Saturday.

Detainees are telling their families about what it’s like to live in cells inside heavy-duty tents erected on an airstrip in Big Cypress National Preserve in Florida.

A Florida bishop is criticizing recent public statements from public officials supporting a new detention facility for illegal immigrants in the Everglades as “obviously intentionally provocative” and demeaning the dignity of people who will be held there.

GardaWorld, an international security company whose U.S. headquarters are in Boca Raton, is one of several contractors hired to do work for Alligator Alcatraz. Anyone can view a sampling of recent comments, but you must be a Times subscriber to contribute. Log in above or subscribe here.