Attorneys: ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ detainees held without charges, barred from legal access

Lawyers seeking a temporary restraining order against an immigration detention center in the Florida Everglades say that Alligator Alcatraz detainees have been barred from meeting attorneys are being held without any charges and that a federal immigration court has canceled bond hearings A virtual hearing in federal court in Miami was being held Monday on a lawsuit that was filed July A new motion on the affair was filed Friday Lawyers who have shown up for bond hearings for Alligator Alcatraz detainees have been narrated that the immigration court doesn t have jurisdiction over their clients the attorneys wrote in court papers The immigration attorneys demanded that federal and state functionaries identify an immigration court that has jurisdiction over the detainees and start accepting petitions for bond claiming the detainees constitutional rights to due process are being violated This is an unprecedented situation where hundreds of detainees are held incommunicado with no ability to access the courts under legal authority that has never been explained and may not exist the immigration attorneys wrote This is an unprecedented and disturbing situation The lawsuit is the second one challenging Alligator Alcatraz Environmental groups last month sued federal and state bureaucrats asking that the project built on an airstrip in the heart of the Florida Everglades be halted because the process didn t follow state and federal environmental laws Critics have condemned the facility as a cruel and inhumane threat to the ecologically sensitive wetlands while Florida Gov Ron DeSantis and other Republican state officers have defended it as part of the state s aggressive push to advocacy President Donald Trump s crackdown on illegal immigration U S Homeland Shield Secretary Kristi Noem has praised Florida for coming forward with the idea as the department looks to significantly expand its immigration detention ceiling