A federal judge handed down a split decision Aug. 18 in a lawsuit brought by detainees at Florida’s “Alligator Alcatraz.”
Plaintiffs in the action filed against the Trump administration and the state of Florida last month claiming their Fifth Amendment rights have been violated by the government’s failure to designate an immigration court to hear their cases. They also made First Amendment claims for being unable to confidentially and consistently communicate with attorneys from the isolated facility in the Everglades.
Rodolfo Ruiz
U.S. District Judge Rodolfo Ruiz dismissed the portion of the suit involving hearing locations due to the government’s subsequent designation of a Miami-area processing center to hear those cases.
“The Fifth Amendment claim is moot and must be dismissed,” Ruiz said. “This is a classic case of mootness.”
But the First Amendment element of the case may continue as detainees have continued to experience prolonged delays in scheduling secure in-person and video conferences with attorneys or, in some cases, have been denied access to counsel altogether.
“Plaintiffs have consistently maintained that the alleged barriers to counsel and inability to engage in confidential communications have taken place at Alligator Alcatraz,” Ruiz explained.
The ruling also granted the Trump administration’s request the case be heard in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, which covers the region where the detention center is located. The suit originally was filed July 16 in the Southern District of Florida in Miami.
The U.S. and state governments also asked for a change of venue in a separate federal lawsuit involving environmental groups suing to stop any further expansion of the detention center located in a wetlands surrounded by Big Cypress Preserve.
“Environmental laws in our country stand on equal footing with other laws — and they were disregarded when ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ was built. We’re standing up for law and order,” said Eve Samples, executive director of Friends of the Everglades, one of the plaintiffs in that action.
U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams ordered a 14-day pause on additional fencing, lighting and paving at the center used to detain immigrants facing deportation. She is expected to issue a written decision Aug. 21.
Williams also granted a request by the Miccosukee Tribe to join the suit brought by Friends of the Everglades and the Center for Biological diversity.
“Our goal is simple: Require the government to comply with the law by completing an environmental impact study, as required by the National Environmental Policy Act,” Samples said.
The Miami Herald reported the tribe joined the suit in an effort to see the detention facility closed down.
“The Miccosukee Tribe is committed to ensuring that our ancestral lands in Big Cypress will not become a permanent detention facility,” tribal Chairman Talbert Cypress said.
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