The hottest topic on the Hill, and in Homestead, in recent weeks has been the conditions at immigrant detention centers. Congresswoman Debbie Mucarsel-Powell has been one of the most vocal challengers to the conditions in immigration facilities, particularly the Homestead Detention Facility, which is in District 26. The Weekly has reported on the controversy surrounding the center, operated by parent company Caliburn, including reports from Minister Gigi Delgado of Hope 4 Life, who has volunteered in the facility, calling it a “protection center” rather than a “detention center” and lauding its humane conditions. Others, including protesters and lawmakers, disagree.

Mucarsel-Powell, who arrived in the U.S. as an immigrant from Ecuador at 14, has visited the center some half-dozen times. She also invited Democratic presidential hopefuls to visit the facility, following the June 26 and 27 debates in Miami, an occasion on which they were denied access. The congresswoman has a clear message about the Caliburn-owned facility:

“People say it’s clean, and they have beds and they have food — it’s prison-like conditions. There are prisons that are clean, and they have food,” said Mucarsel-Powell. “But these are kids who haven’t committed a crime.”

She notes that The Miami Herald reported that the facility had 20 children detained who were U.S. citizens. A number of detained children have relatives in the U.S. As of July 15, the facility spokesperson cited the population at 1,309.

“I’ve been working on this issue since January,” she said. “It was critical to me for folks to see what was happening there.”

Some of that work may be paying off. Mucarsel-Powell said the detention center has contacted her staff to report that 1,600 children are being moved out of the facility. Mucarsel-Powell asks: “I want to know where those kids were moved.” The center claims the children are being moved to foster care and homes with family members. The center has stated to press that 376 children have been reunified and 70 were transferred. Mucarsel-Powell has composed a list of 50 questions that her staff has sent to the administrators of the center, demanding answers.

The House Judiciary Committee will also hold a hearing on Thursday, July 25, at which Mucarsel-Powell and her colleagues will have the opportunity to question Office Of Refugee Resettlement Director Jonathan Hayes about the Homestead facility and other immigration detention centers.

In light of her vocal advocacy for immigrants, especially children, Mucarsel-Powell has received some criticism for voting “no” on the House bill approving $4.6 billion in emergency funding for border aid, which passed 305-102. Speaker Nancy Pelosi supported the bill, saying it would “reluctantly pass” the Senate-approved bill. House members and Pelosi said that the Senate did not follow through with good-faith provisions negotiated. She stated in a letter to Democratic members of Congress: “The children come first … therefore, we will not engage in the same disrespectful behavior that the Senate did in ignoring our priorities.”

Reps. Mucarsel-Powell and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez were among those who voted against the bill, saying it did not include key provisions.

“We sent billions of dollars to Homeland Security in January,” said Mucarsel-Powell, “Then they came back in May, saying they didn’t have adequate funds.” She described the “good faith agreement” made with the Senate, asking for added provisions including a time limit for children to be detained before being reunited with their families, and that basic humanitarian healthcare needs would be satisfied.

“I don’t think we should write a blank check to an administration that has misused funds,” she said. “They say they don’t have the funding to provide basic necessities like food, water, blankets and diapers? To me that was unacceptable.” Comprehensive Health Services, the wing of Caliburn that operates the facility, negotiated a $341 million contract with the federal government in May, which is up in November. The Department of Health and Human Services has reported that the company is being paid $775 per child, per day detained.

Sarah Thomas is the Editor of Key West Weekly and moved down from her second-favorite island, Manhattan. She has worn many hats: publicist, tour guide, bartender, teacher, and cat wrangler, but this one seems to fit the best.