In a letter sent late Tuesday to the heads of the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and FEMA, the lawmakers expressed concern that the Trump administration's decision to use what lawmakers called a "novel state-run immigration detention model" could violate federal law and make the federal government less accountable for the conditions at immigrant detention centers.

Two separate lawsuits could ensure detainees have proper access to their legal counsel or shut down operations at the controversial makeshift immigrant detention center in Florida’s swampy Everglades.

A federal judge in Miami has dismissed part of a lawsuit that claimed detainees were denied access to the legal system at the immigration detention center in the Florida Everglades known as “Alligator Alcatraz.