The answer could play a key role in a legal battle over the facility’s fate. And it has bigger implications, too.

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.

The fate of a makeshift immigrant detention center in the Florida Everglades dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz” hangs in the balance, as a federal judge considers whether building on sensitive wetlands violated environmental laws.

Court ruling stops new infrastructure capacity at Florida's Alligator Alcatraz detention facility but permits continued housing of existing migrant detainees.