Aug. 18 (UPI) — A Florida federal judge heard arguments Monday about the conditions at “Alligator Alcatraz” immigration detention center in the Everglades but ended the hearing without a ruling.
U.S. District Judge Rodolfo Ruiz II heard arguments about detainee access to attorneys, if an immigration court was assigned for those at the camp, and if the case was filed in the correct federal court.
Ruiz, a Trump appointee, didn’t make a ruling or issue an injunction.
“What is happening at ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ is not normal,” Eunice Cho, senior counsel with the American Civil Liberties Union’s National Prison Project and the lead attorney in the case, told the court.
Cho said the detention center had little or no means for attorneys to communicate with their clients with confidentiality via phone, mail or video conference.
The lawyers have argued that the detainees have to use a recorded pay phone to contact their lawyers in five-minute intervals.
They also argue that detainees are being held without any formal criminal or immigration charges against them, making it nearly impossible for them to seek release on bond.
The federal government and the state of Florida, both defendants in the case, sat at the same table in the courtroom Monday.
“Legal access has been growing as the facility stands up,” Nicholas J.P. Meros, an attorney for the state of Florida, told the court. “Every day that goes by there is more access,” he added.
“The facility has continued to build more infrastructure,” and there are now rooms where attorney-client meetings can take place in private, Meros said.
The plaintiffs are detainees represented by the ACLU of Florida and Americans for Immigrant Justice. They also allege dire conditions that include flooding, swarms of mosquitos, waste backup and poor ventilation at the facility, which is tented and is on a remote airstrip.
Attorneys with the state of Florida and the Trump administration argued that officials have set up a consistent way for detainees to contact their lawyers using a private contractor.
“Plaintiffs offer no evidence to suggest the State Defendants will stop scheduling meetings with counsel without an injunction. Accordingly, the Court should deny Plaintiffs’ Renewed Motion for Preliminary Injunction,” they wrote in a legal filing.
While the plaintiffs also argued that the facility exists in a legal “black hole” with no clearly defined immigration court to challenge their detentions, the Trump administration recently designated the Krome North Service Processing Center near Miami as the immigration court with responsibility for “Alligator Alcatraz.” Krome is about 35 miles from the Everglades detention center
This is the second major lawsuit challenging the operation of “Alligator Alcatraz.” A federal judge on Aug. 7 blocked further construction on “Alligator Alcatraz.”
U.S. District Court Judge Kathleen Mary Williams issued a temporary restraining order after hearing two days of testimony about the potential environmental impacts of the center.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.