‘Alligator Alcatraz’ Detainees Sue Over Access to Counsel (2)

Florida and Trump administration officials are allegedly preventing noncitizens held at Florida’s “Alligator Alcatraz” immigration detention facility from communicating with their attorneys.

The government’s restrictions on client-attorney communications have made it “virtually impossible” for detainees to file petitions with immigration courts to contest their detention, a group of detainees in the Miami-Dade County facility and legal aid organizations assert in a proposed class action filed Wednesday in the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

The plaintiffs are seeking to represent a class of all detainees at the Florida Everglades facility, which has been dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz.”

The state-run facility, which can house roughly 3,000 people, was built in just eight days pursuant to Florida’s state of emergency over “illegal immigration.” The fast-tracked schedule and reports of poor conditions in the facility have drawn concerns from human rights groups and some lawmakers.

The only way detainees can communicate with family and attorneys is through “infrequent access to collect pay phone calls that are monitored and recorded, and last approximately five minutes,” the plaintiffs claim.

One of the detainee plaintiffs described “harsh and inhumane conditions” at the facility during brief phone calls to his family, including that detainees are only permitted one meal a day and kept in cages “around the clock.” He told his family and attorneys with Sanctuary of the South, one of the plaintiff legal organizations, via phone that he wanted to participate in the suit.

The US Department of Homeland Security and Florida officials have allegedly provided no information on how attorneys can get in touch with their clients, and repeatedly refused them access. Officials at a checkpoint near the facility have allegedly turned away attorneys and provided them a “faulty email address” or visitation request form to arrange a visit.

Attorneys who have filled out the form or attempted to contact officials have either received no response or had their visits canceled, the complaint says.

The US Department of Justice also hasn’t indicated any court with jurisdiction over the Florida facility, the plaintiffs say, restricting their ability to file motions and petitions with the immigration court.

The plaintiffs assert violations of the First and Fifth amendments, and seek a court order directing government officials to ensure detainees have access to counsel.

DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement to Bloomberg Law, “no lawbreakers in the history of human civilization have been treated better than illegal aliens in the United States, and yet all they do is complain.”

ICE referred Bloomberg Law to Florida’s Division of Emergency Management when contacted for comment. The division, the governor’s office, and the other defendants didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

Americans for Immigrant Justice and the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Florida represent the plaintiffs.

The case is C.M. v. Noem, S.D. Fla., No. 1:25-cv-23182, complaint filed 7/16/25.