A U.S. district judge on Monday ordered federal and state officials in Florida to release documents showing which groups have legal authority to detain people or perform immigration officer duties at the newly constructed “Alligator Alcatraz” immigration detention center in the Florida Everglades.
The order was in response to a class action lawsuit filed July 16 by four detainees and a detainee’s attorney—backed by three immigration law firms and homelessness non-profit Sanctuary of the South—on behalf of all persons currently held or to be held in the future at the facility. Two of the detainees are identified in court documents as Cuban nationals, and two are in the country with pending asylum or alien relative I-130 applications.
The plaintiffs are alleging constitutional violations, including a lack of protocols for confidential attorney-client communication at the facility, indefinite detention, and canceled bond hearings. They filed a motion for a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction with the court.
Judge Rodolfo A. Ruiz of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida on Aug. 4 granted two parts of the plaintiffs’ five-part request. He ordered the release of all written agreements and contracts showing who has legal custody of the hundreds of detainees.
The federal and state governments had requested that any disclosures be limited to agreements between U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and three state agencies: the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the Florida Highway Patrol, and the Florida National Guard.
Attorneys for the detainees also requested documents showing who was responsible for removal proceedings, as well as information on the number of employees at “Alligator Alcatraz.” Ruiz said that these requests were too broad at the current stage of the legal challenge.
“And identifying which governmental actors are ‘responsible for carrying out detention operations at Alligator Alcatraz’ will assist the Court in determining which Defendants are proper parties for purposes of Plaintiffs’ First and Fifth Amendment claims,” the judge wrote in the order.
The partial discovery will allow the court to “discern what governmental entities committed [alleged actions at Alligator Alcatraz] in the first place,” he added.
Authority at the detention center has been unclear since the facility opened in July.
It houses thousands of illegal immigrants detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) who are awaiting prosecution and deportation. Deep in the Everglades, the facility was built at the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport, located in the Big Cypress National Preserve, which is home to about 30,000 alligators.
Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem; Acting ICE Director Todd M. Lyons; ICE Field Office Director Garrett Ripa; Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis; Miami-Dade County Corrections and Rehabilitation Director Sherea Green; Florida Division of Emergency Management Executive Director Kevin Guthrie; and Acting Director of the Executive Office for Immigration Review Sirce E. Owen are named as defendants in the lawsuit.
They have until Aug. 7 to hand over the documents.
Share your thoughts by scrolling down to leave a comment.
