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.

A group of democratic state lawmakers were turned away after attempted to walk in through the front gates of Alligator Alcatraz. Despite mounting concerns over the conditions inside, the facility received its first detainees on Wednesday.