MIAMI (AP) — A legal challenge to a hastily built immigration detention center in the Everglades, Florida, has been filed at the wrong venue, government lawyers alleged Wednesday in the first first of two hearings on the legality of “Wannial Catraz” in a lawsuit filed by environmental groups.
The property is owned by Miami-Dade County, but the Southern Florida District is the wrong place for federal lawsuits by environmental groups as the detention center is located in nearby Collier County, located in the central district of the state.
“It’s all going on outside of the southern districts of Collier County, Tallahassee or the District of Columbia,” said attorney Jesse Panuccio, who represented Florida.
A friend of Everglades Attorney Paul Schweep’s, a friend of Everglades, agreed that lawsuits could have been filed in one of several districts, including Florida’s Central District, but the temporary facility had a major impact on the city, environment and drinking water in Miami-Dade County, making the Southern District a suitable location.
Schweep also pointed out that the state complained only about the venue after a judge appointed by President George W. Bush rejected himself from the lawsuit earlier this month, which was reassigned to US District Judge Kathleen Williams. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and other Republicans called Williams “activist judge” after contemptuating Florida Attorney General James Usmierer for ignoring her orders in another case.
Panuccio has rejected attempts to “shop the judge” and said the state will attempt to change the venue for any incidents related to detention facilities filed in the Southern District.
Williams did not control the venue’s challenge on Wednesday. A decision on whether to move the case could affect another case brought on by a civil rights advocate who says “Wannial Catraz” detainees have been denied access to lawyers and immigration courts.
Federal and state defendants in civil rights lawsuits also allege that the lawsuit was filed at the wrong venue. At the judge’s request, civil rights groups filed an amended class action complaint on Tuesday claiming that the detainee’s constitutional rights are being violated.
“The defendant was unable to fully develop a policy or process for detainees to access lawyers at the facility,” they wrote in a new filing seeking class action status. “The lawyers were unable to discover the work process to set up a call with a client or future client via phone or video.”
The environmental group filed a lawsuit against federal and state officials in the Southern District of Florida last month, sought the process would be built on the runway in the heart of the Florida Everglades as it failed to comply with state and federal environmental laws. In addition to the hearing at the venue on Wednesday, there is a second hearing scheduled for next week on the Environmental Group’s request for a temporary injunction.
The first of hundreds of detainees arrives days after the lawsuit is filed, and the facility is capable of holding 3,000 people.
The detention center was opened by Florida officials, but critics said it was unclear whether federal immigration officials or state officials were calling the shot. Florida officials have named the facility after a prison on a closed island outside of San Francisco, highlighting the remoteness and difficulty of escape. Deportation from Alligator Alcatraz began last week.
Williams ordered a court agreement between the US Department of Homeland Security and the Florida Office of Emergency Management on Monday.
Critics have accused the facility as a cruel, inhumane and threat to ecologically sensitive wetlands, but 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.
