Video above: Removal stool begins at Alligator Alcatraz, a Florida official said
Attorneys seeking a temporary restraining order against the Florida Everglades immigration detention center say “Crocodile Alcatraz” detainees are banned from the counsel meeting and are being held without charge, and a federal immigration court has cancelled bond hearings.
A virtual hearing in federal court in Miami took place Monday in a lawsuit filed July 16th. A new allegation was filed on Friday regarding the case.
The lawyers who appeared for the bond hearing for the “Crocodile Alcatraz” detainee were told the immigration court had no jurisdiction over their clients, the lawyer wrote in court documents. Immigration attorneys have called for federal and state officials to identify immigration courts with jurisdiction over detainees and begin accepting debt petitions, claiming that detainees’ constitutional rights to the legitimate process have been violated.
“This is an unprecedented situation in which hundreds of detainees are trapped, with no capacity to access the court under legal authority that may not be explained or existed,” the immigration lawyer wrote. “This is an unprecedented and intrusive situation.”
The lawsuit is the second to challenge “Wannial Catraz.” Environmental groups sued federal and state officials last month to sue the project, built on the runway in the heart of the Florida Everglades, to be stopped as the project failed to comply with state and federal environmental laws.
Critics have denounced the facility as a cruel and inhumane threat to ecologically sensitive wetlands, and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and other Republican state officials have defended it as part of the state’s aggressive push to support President Donald Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration.
Homeland Security Secretary Christie Noem praised Florida for moving forward with the idea as the department is looking to significantly expand its immigration detention capabilities.
