Florida-Run ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ Violates US Law, ACLU Says

The Florida detention camp known as Alligator Alcatraz is being run illegally by state workers who are holding immigrants “off the grid,” the American Civil Liberties Union said in a new lawsuit filed hours after a judge in a different case ruled the facility must be dismantled.

The ACLU on Friday sued a group of Florida agencies involved in operating the facility, alleging they’re violating federal laws that strictly limit how states can participate in immigration enforcement.

The lawsuit in federal court in Fort Myers is the latest legal threat to Florida’s coordinated effort to support President Donald Trump’s campaign to deport millions of undocumented immigrants. The camp was a key to Governor Ron DeSantis’ quest to play a high-profile role in Trump’s immigration crackdown.

President Donald Trump, center, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, left, and Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem tour a migrant detention center, dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz,” in Ochopee, Florida, on July 1.

Photographer: Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP/Getty Images

“The lack of authority to operate the facility has resulted in unprecedented challenges that people in immigration detention typically do not face, including being held without charge, not receiving initial custody or bond determinations, not appearing in the detainee locator system, and not being able to access their attorneys or immigration court,” the ACLU said.

The White House and the Department of Homeland Security didn’t immediately return messages seeking comment. The Florida Department of Corrections, one of the defendants in the case, also didn’t immediately respond.

The lawsuit, which seeks class-action status to represent all detainees at the facility, alleges that the “unprecedented issues” at the Alligator Alcatraz stem from a “clear lack of authority at the heart of the facility’s operations.”

The filing comes after a judge in a different case ordered that Alligator Alcatraz must be wound down and dismantled because it hadn’t gone through the normal environmental review process for federal construction projects. Florida filed a notice of appeal.

To contact the reporter on this story:
Erik Larson in New York at elarson4@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Misyrlena Egkolfopoulou at megkolfopoul@bloomberg.net

Anthony Aarons, Kevin Whitelaw

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