Late Monday, citing caution, a federal judge declared a portion of the complaint moot and said that a dispute over legal counsel for inmates at an Everglades immigration detention facility should be sent to another court.
In a 47-page ruling, U.S. District Judge Rodolfo Ruiz addressed some of the arguments raised in the well-known complaint alleging First Amendment abuses at the Alligator Alcatraz holding facility. In part, detainees and their lawyers argue, they have been denied the opportunity to have appropriate, private conversations to discuss cases.
The facility at the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport, a remote location in the Everglades that is primarily in Collier County and partially in Miami-Dade County, was inaugurated by the state in early July.
Miami-Dade County is part of the federal Southern District of Florida, where the inmates and lawyers filed the complaint. However, state and federal officials contended that the federal Middle District of Florida, which encompasses Collier County, is where it should have been filed.
Ruiz, a judge in the Southern District, concurred in his ruling that the matter need to be moved to the Middle District because the contested actions in question are occurring on Collier County property. The ruling will result in the fast-moving litigation being assigned to a different judge.
Ruiz, who held a hearing on Monday, stated that the plaintiffs have continuously maintained that the alleged inability to communicate confidentially and impediments to counsel occurred at Alligator Alcatraz, which is not in this (Southern) District.
The plaintiffs contended in the case that the federal government had infringed their rights by failing to designate an immigration court to hear their claims, in addition to the First Amendment concerns.
However, Kristi Noem, the secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, filed a notice of substantial development over the weekend, stating that the inmates’ cases would be heard by judges at the Krome North Processing Service Center. Krome, an immigrant-detention facility in Miami, already hosts immigration proceedings.
Ruiz said in his order that the lawsuit’s immigration-court claims were moot in light of the federal ruling on Krome.
According to Ruiz, caution in this case has shown altered circumstances, a moot claim, and an inappropriate venue that justifies a transfer. In order to move the case forward and put a sister court in the Middle District of Florida in a position to consider the merits of the plaintiffs’ remaining First Amendment claims, the court has therefore sorted through important preliminary concerns.
One of two major federal court battles concerning the detention facility is the lawsuit regarding access to legal representation. The Center for Biological Diversity and Friends of the Everglades claim that state and federal officials violated a legislation that mandated an environmental impact study be conducted prior to the development of the facility, which is encircled by Big Cypress National Preserve.
On August 7, U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams imposed a temporary restraining order, halting further infrastructure, paving, or lighting installation at the site for a period of two weeks. This week, Williams is anticipated to make a decision regarding the issuance of a more permanent preliminary injunction.
According to Kevin Guthrie, director of the State Division of Emergency Management, the facility can accommodate 2,000 people and last week housed 1,000. State leaders, including Governor Ron DeSantis, have praised the facility for supporting President Donald Trump’s efforts to deport illegal immigrants.
Jim Saunders, Florida News Service
