MIAMI (AP) — A federal judge on Monday examined the question of whether detainees at a temporary immigrant detention facility in the Florida Everglades have been deprived of their legal rights.
Civil rights attorneys, in their second lawsuit against the facility termed “Alligator Alcatraz,” pursued a preliminary injunction to guarantee that the detainees receive confidential access to their lawyers, which they argue has not been provided. This claim has been contested by Florida officials.
Additionally, these attorneys urged U.S. District Judge Rodolfo Ruiz to determine which immigration court has jurisdiction over the detention center, enabling them to file petitions for the detainees’ bond or release. They assert that federal Florida immigration courts habitually cancel hearings for such cases due to judges claiming lack of jurisdiction over the detainees in the Everglades.
During Monday’s hearing, government attorneys proposed assigning jurisdiction to the immigration court at Krome North Service Processing Center in the Miami vicinity, aiming to mitigate some of the civil rights attorneys’ constitutional issues. Judge Ruiz conveyed to the government attorneys an expectation that this designation would not be altered without valid justification.
However, prior to engaging with the pivotal detainee rights matters, Ruiz sought clarification on whether the lawsuit was rightfully filed in Miami’s jurisdiction. Defendants from the state and federal levels argued that the southern district of Florida is incorrect, given that the detention site resides in Collier County—part of the state’s middle district—despite being owned by Miami-Dade County.
The hearing closed without an immediate decision from the judge. Ruiz indicated that the southern district might be suitable for the case against federal defendants since a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in Miami manages oversight of the detention facility, as per an agreement between state and federal entities.
But Ruiz also questioned whether the case against the state defendants might be better in the middle district, because all of the purported civil rights violations occurred at the facility itself, which is located in Collier County, several miles outside the southern district.
All parties have agreed that if the complaints against the state are moved to another venue, then the complaints against the federal government should be moved as well.
The hearing over legal access comes as another federal judge in Miami considers whether construction and operations at the facility should be halted indefinitely because federal environmental rules weren’t followed. U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams on Aug. 7 ordered a 14-day halt on additional construction at the site while witnesses testified at a hearing that wrapped up last week. She has said she plans to issue a ruling before the order expires later this week.
Meanwhile, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced last week that his administration was preparing to open a second immigration detention facility dubbed “Deportation Depot” at a state prison in north Florida. DeSantis justified building the second detention center by saying President Donald Trump’s administration needs the additional capacity to hold and deport more immigrants.
The state of Florida has disputed claims that “Alligator Alcatraz” detainees have been unable to meet with their attorneys. The state’s lawyers said that since July 15, when videoconferencing started at the facility, the state has granted every request for a detainee to meet with an attorney, and in-person meetings started July 28. The first detainees arrived at the beginning of July.
But the civil rights attorneys said that even if lawyers have been scheduled to meet with their clients at the detention center, it hasn’t been in private or confidential, and it is more restrictive than at other immigration detention facilities. They said scheduling delays and an unreasonable advanced notice requirement have hindered their ability to meet with the detainees, thereby violating their constitutional rights.
Civil rights attorneys said officers are going cell-to-cell to pressure detainees into signing voluntary removal orders before they’re allowed to consult their attorneys, and some detainees have been deported even though they didn’t have final removal orders. Along with the spread of a respiratory infection and rainwater flooding their tents, the circumstances have fueled a feeling of desperation among detainees, the attorneys wrote in a court filing.
The judge promised a quick decision.
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