Detainees at Florida’s new immigrant detention camp in the Everglades and several legal aid groups filed a class-action lawsuit yesterday challenging the lack of legal access at the isolated prison.
Four current detainees at the camps—as well as Florida Keys Immigration, Sanctuary of the South (SOS), U.S. Immigration Law Counsel, the Law Offices of Catherine Perez, and attorney Victoria Slatton on behalf of another detainee—allege in a federal civil rights lawsuit filed in the Southern District of Florida that they can’t schedule attorney-client meetings or confidential phone calls, violating their First Amendment and due process rights.
In addition, the lawsuit says that the unclear jurisdictional status of the detention camp has “made it virtually impossible for detainees, or their counsel, to file documents required to contest their detention with the immigration court.”
“No instruction exists as to which immigration courts have been designated for submission of motions for bond redetermination for people detained at Alligator Alcatraz,” the lawsuit says. “As a result, detainees held at Alligator Alcatraz effectively have no way to contest their detention.”
The lawsuit is seeking a judge’s order to force the Everglades detention center, which Florida officials have dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz,” to provide confidential in-person and telephone meetings. The plaintiffs are represented by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Americans for Immigrant Justice.
“The U.S. Constitution does not allow the government to simply lock people away without any ability to communicate with counsel or to petition the court for release from custody,” Eunice Cho, senior counsel with the ACLU’s National Prison Project and the lead attorney in the case, said in a press release. “The government may not trample on these most fundamental protections for people held in its custody.”
The lawsuit’s allegations echo numerous recent news stories describing a lack of legal access and poor conditions at the hastily constructed tent camp, including frequent power outages, lack of showers, overflowing toilets, limited and poor-quality food, and oppressive heat and bugs.
Regina de Moraes, a Miami immigration attorney, told Reason earlier this week that one of her clients was held in the camp for eight days and nine nights in total, but she was never able to visit him.
“One individual was able to see their attorney one time, but after that, it seems that the facility blocked attorney visits,” she said. “I requested through [ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations] and also through the email that they gave reporters. Nobody responds to me. Nobody gets back to me.”
In the lawsuit, attorneys describe being unable to find out basic information, such as where their clients are being held and which immigration court has jurisdiction over them; driving to the remote prison only to be turned away at police checkpoints; and having scheduled video visits mysteriously canceled.
The lawsuit says there’s no known phone number for attorneys to call, and messages sent to a private email address provided by state officials bounce back as undeliverable.
According to the lawsuit, Katie Blankenship, an attorney with Sanctuary of the South, attempted to drive to Alligator Alcatraz on July 10 to visit five clients, but she was stopped at a police checkpoint and told to wait. After two and a half hours, Blankenship was handed a “visitation request form,” which she was told was the only process for scheduling legal calls or visits.
On July 11, Blankenship received an email announcing she’d been “verified” for a one-hour virtual attorney visit, but the next day it was canceled due to technical difficulties and never rescheduled.
“Not only have we repeatedly been denied access to current and prospective clients, but after waiting for three hours at the site, it became clear that there is no plan or process to ensure any access to counsel or due process for the immigrants being neglected and abused there,” Blankenship said in the ACLU press release.
Meanwhile, the lawsuit says detainees are subjected to inhumane conditions.
Michael Borrego, a Cuban national who was arrested for a parole violation for outstanding traffic violations in June, was transferred to the Everglades detention camp in July. In addition to only being given one meal a day and not being permitted daily showers, Borrego also “reported that there have been physical assaults and excessive use of force by people working as guards, and a lack of medical care and attention,” the lawsuit says.
On July 11, Borrego had a medical emergency and was sent to a local hospital for surgery. He has since been transferred back to the detention camp.
“His family reported to SOS attorneys on July 15 that the facility staff were not providing him the post-surgical antibiotics the hospital had prescribed for him, and that due to the heat and humidity in the tents, he had pus coming out of his operation site,” the lawsuit says. “He is experiencing significant post-surgery pain.”
Borrego’s plight has led him and his family to change their stance on his immigration case and seek his removal back to Cuba.
“Access to counsel empowers immigrants—and all people—to participate in their own legal defense, which has irreversible and lifelong consequences,” Sui Chung, executive director of Americans for Immigrant Justice, said in the ACLU press release. “The conditions inside this facility are deeply concerning and paint a stark picture of the disregard for the well-being of individuals in custody. Such a facility, operating in near secret, and denying fundamental rights, is a stain on our justice system and represents a threat to American values and our recognition of human rights.”
The lawsuit names as defendants the Department of Homeland Security, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, and Florida Division of Emergency Management (FDEM) executive director Kevin Guthrie, among other officials and agencies.
The FDEM, which constructed and operates the camp, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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