As at least 100 detainees have been deported amid legal disputes over the remote facility, a U.S. district judge on Monday urged state and federal officials to produce a copy of an intergovernmental agreement outlining who is in charge of an Everglades immigrant-detention center, citing the urgency of the situation.
In a hearing in a lawsuit that claimed, among other things, that those detained at the Alligator Alcatraz facility are denied access to attorneys and are unable to challenge their imprisonment, U.S. District Judge Rodolfo Ruiz demanded the deal.
Ruiz was informed by Eunice Cho, a lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation, that the holding facility’s practices are unprecedented.
We have never witnessed a situation in which hundreds of people are being detained under an unidentified legal authority, without being charged, or without access to the immigration courts. Cho added that neither state nor federal immigration laws are being used to prosecute those being held at the facility.
As part of a cooperative immigration-enforcement program called the 287(g) program, Cho said, federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials are denying responsibility for individuals detained at the facility and informing detainees that they are in the custody of state officials. State officials maintain that they are running the detention center on behalf of the Trump administration.
It appears that no one is taking accountability for offering legal options to those detained at the institution. “We need more clarity on just the basic sense of who has legal custody over the plaintiffs and on what authority,” Cho said, adding that this is the first time we have seen immigrant detainees denied access to immigration courts in this way.
According to Ruiz, the 287(g) agreement is essential to comprehending the functions of the federal and state governments at the distant site, which was constructed next to the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport by the administration of Governor Ron DeSantis.
The court referred to the matter as crucial, saying, “I am curious because in the very short term, knowing what’s happening with the 287 agreements would really help me, let alone all of us, understand what are viable claims in the lawsuit.” Ruiz stated that he would think about putting the agreement under court seal, allowing parts of it to be redacted, or viewing it in private.
However, DeSantis and his administration’s lawyer, Nicholas Meros, seemed to object. According to him, the case was only served to the state on Friday.
Meros informed Ruiz, “I’m not, I’m not prepared today to say definitively what our position is.” We have a plan, for sure. But I have to make sure of it, you know.
The case, which was filed on July 16 by the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida, Americans for Immigrant Justice, and immigration lawyers, claimed violations of the First Amendment and due process. In order to obtain class-action status, the plaintiffs’ attorneys are requesting a preliminary injunction forcing inmates to have access to legal counsel as well as a temporary restraining order from Ruiz.
Meros stated on Monday that the plaintiffs’ First Amendment argument does not grant them access to the 287(g) agreement.
He stated that in order to get it, they had give certain legal explanations.
Meros further contended that the court’s threshold concern was the location of the lawsuit’s filing.
The airport is located in the counties of Collier and Miami-Dade. Miami-Dade County is part of the federal Southern District of Florida, where the complaint was filed. The detention facility is located in Ochopee, an unincorporated hamlet in Collier County, which is located in Florida’s Middle District.
An impending hearing in a different complaint that environmental groups filed against the detention facility will also rely on the venue issue. According to the Center for Biological Diversity and Friends of the Everglades, state and federal officials violated federal law by not conducting an environmental impact study prior to constructing the facility on land encircled by Big Cypress National Preserve and the Everglades.
In that complaint, attorneys representing Kevin Guthrie, the director of the state’s Division of Emergency Management, contend that just a portion of the runway is located in Miami-Dade County, with the remainder being in Collier County. They contend that the case ought to be transferred to the Middle District of Florida as a result.
Ruiz was informed on Monday by Marlene Rodriguez, the Trump administration’s attorney, that the complaint concerning detainees’ access to legal counsel would be better and more convenient in the Middle District.
However, the Miami-based Ruiz seemed doubtful, stating that since at least one of the government defendants lives in the Southern District, the venue issue might be a loser.
Meros informed the judge that detainees would begin meeting with attorneys face-to-face on Monday. Meros proposed that the lawsuit might be moot due to the evolving facts.
With reference to affidavits from immigration lawyers stating that they were unable to arrange video conferences with detainees, that client calls were being monitored, and that some people had to wait two hours in line to use a phone, Ruiz stated, “I am very much aware that there’s a changing situation on the ground.”
According to Ruiz, a lot of it appeared to me to be the growing pains, if you will, of a new facility in disarray.
The judge requested for updated information from the state to help me understand the situation at the detention facility, acknowledging that it’s a fast-moving target.
Ruiz stated, “I do need more information on how things are going to date.”
According to Cho, staff members at the detention facility are attempting to coerce individuals into signing deportation orders without giving them the chance to consult with lawyers or submit requests for immigration bonds to the court.
She asked Ruiz to move the matter along quickly.
According to her, “the government’s representations here in court are actually bearing truth on the ground, and we certainly do not know what the situation is.” As previously said, 100 individuals have been eliminated. It is extremely urgent that people do not submit any petitions to the immigration court at this time.
In order to ensure that the lawsuit is thoroughly presented in the event that it needs to be reassigned to a judge in a different district, Ruiz agreed to expedite the case, stating that he would take the venue problem into consideration along with other points at a hearing on August 18.
Ruiz informed Meros, “I am well aware that you would simply like to concentrate your efforts on the venue.” Ultimately, I don’t want to put things off.
Dara Kam, Florida News Service
