Environmental Groups Sue to Block Migrant Detention Center Rising in Florida Everglades
There is also supposed to be a chance for public comment, according to the lawsuit filed in Miami federal court. The center, dubbed 'Alligator Alcatraz' by Gov. Ron DeSantis, is set to begin processing people who entered the US illegally as soon as next week, the governor said Friday on Fox & Friends.
The state is plowing ahead with building a compound of heavy-duty tents, trailers, and other temporary buildings at the Miami-Dade County–owned airfield in the Big Cypress National Preserve about 45 miles (72 kilometers) west of downtown Miami. The lawsuit names several federal and state agencies as defendants.
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Al Arabiya
5 days ago
- Al Arabiya
Inside Trump's ‘Alligator Alcatraz': Migrant detainees allege extreme abuse
At US President Donald Trump's new migrant detention center in the Florida Everglades, time has no discernible meaning. Prisoners are barely able to see sunlight in the windowless space, living under fluorescent lamps that are always on, with no clocks or anything else by which they might mark the days. Several detainees, their family members and lawyers have denounced appalling conditions at the facility, nicknamed 'Alligator Alcatraz' by an administration that has likened undocumented migrants to 'animals' and promised to deport millions. AFP spoke with several 'Alligator Alcatraz' detainees by phone and obtained further information about conditions there from relatives, lawyers and legal documents. Detainees spoke of facilities covered in filth, a lack of medical care, mistreatment, and the violation of their legal rights. 'They don't even treat animals like this. This is like torture,' said Luis Gonzalez, a 25-year-old Cuban who called AFP from inside the center. Florida authorities built the facilities in eight days -- opening the center on July 2 at an abandoned airfield in the Everglades wetlands. Governed by Republican Ron DeSantis, the southeastern state signed an agreement with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to detain undocumented foreigners, a power that until now had been reserved for federal authorities. Now, the Trump administration wants to make this a model for other detention centers across the country. Like 'murderers' Gonzalez arrived in the United States in 2022 and settled in Florida after authorities released him while his asylum application was being reviewed. Last month, when an immigration judge dismissed his case, ICE agents arrested him and took him to 'Alligator Alcatraz.' They kept him chained by his hands, waist, and feet on a bus with other detainees for more than a day before taking him to one of the large tents that house eight cells each, he said. 'I haven't seen sunlight in the 14 days I've been here,' he said. 'When they take us to the dining hall, they take us with our hands on our heads as if we were murderers.' He lives in a cell with about 30 people, a space enclosed by chain-linked fencing that he compares to a chicken coop. It is hardly ever cleaned, he says, not even the three toilets that everyone shares. At the time of the call, Gonzalez had not showered for a week. The days are hot, with swarms of mosquitoes in the cells, and the nights are not much better. Beatings, attempted suicide Gonzalez and other detainees have denounced the lack of medical care available at the site. Michael Borrego Fernandez, 35, complained of pain but was not treated until he began to bleed, according to his lawyers and legal documents. He underwent emergency surgery for hemorrhoids, only to have to be hospitalized again when he was not given antibiotics and his wounds became infected. Some prisoners, such as Marcos Puig, 31, have rebelled. Before a visit from officials, guards isolated him to prevent him from protesting, he said by phone from another Florida facility where he is now being held. Outraged, he broke a toilet in his new cell, prompting a dozen guards to enter, handcuff him, and punch and kick him all over his body. Afterward, he says, they left him kneeling for about 12 hours in a space without cameras or air conditioning before transferring him to another detention facility. 'I arrived here broken. I was covered in bruises,' he said. Another inmate, Gonzalo Almanza Valdes, reported seeing guards 'beat up' detainees, according to a recorded phone call with his wife. Desperation has pushed some to the limit. On Sunday, Sonia Bichara called her partner, detainee Rafael Collado. Through the speakerphone, the 63-year-old man said: 'I have tried to kill myself twice, I have cut my veins.' When contacted by AFP, Florida authorities denied allegations of abuse. 'Completely illegal' Activists and lawyers are demanding the closure of the facilities, which are facing two lawsuits. The first alleges that migrants' right to due process is not being respected. 'There are people who have been there since they arrived and have still not seen a judge. And that cannot be, it is completely illegal,' said Magdalena Cuprys, Gonzalez's lawyer. She said detainees were unable to request bail or a case review because the courts that should be hearing the cases are not doing so, claiming they have no jurisdiction over the state-operated center. The second lawsuit alleges that the facility threatens the Everglades ecosystem. Last week, a federal judge ordered a 14-day suspension of all new construction at the center while she reviews the case.
Arab News
6 days ago
- Arab News
Judge to hear arguments on halting ‘Alligator Alcatraz' construction over environmental concerns
MIAMI: A federal judge is set to hear closing arguments Wednesday over whether to stop construction indefinitely at an immigrant detention center in the Florida Everglades dubbed 'Alligator Alcatraz' as she considers whether it violates environmental laws. US District Judge Kathleen Williams ordered a two-week halt on new construction last Thursday as witnesses continued to testify in a hearing to determine whether construction should end until the ultimate resolution of the case. The temporary order doesn't include any restrictions on law enforcement or immigration enforcement activity at the center, which is currently holding hundreds of detainees. The center, which was quickly built two months ago at a lightly used, single-runway training airport, is designed to eventually hold up to 3,000 detainees in temporary tent structures. The order temporarily barred the installation of any new industrial-style lighting, as well as any paving, filling, excavating, fencing or erecting additional buildings, tents, dormitories or other residential or administrative facilities. Environmental groups and the Miccosukee Tribe want Williams to issue a preliminary injunction to halt operations and further construction, which they say threatens environmentally sensitive wetlands that are home to protected plants and animals and would reverse billions of dollars' worth of environmental restoration. Plaintiffs presented witnesses Wednesday and Thursday who testified that the facility violates the National Environmental Policy Act, which requires federal agencies to assess the environmental effects of major construction projects. Attorneys for the state and federal government have said that although the detention center would be holding federal detainees, the construction and operation of the facility is entirely under the state of Florida, meaning the federal environmental review wouldn't apply. The judge last week said the detention facility was, at a minimum, a joint partnership between the state and federal government. Witnesses describe environmental threats Witnesses for the environmental groups have testified that at least 20 acres (8 hectares) of asphalt have been added to the site since the Florida Division of Emergency Management began construction. They said additional paving could lead to an increase in water runoff to the adjacent wetlands, spread harmful chemicals into the Everglades and reduce the habitat for endangered Florida panthers. Amy Castaneda, the Miccosukee Tribe's water resource director, testified Tuesday that nutrient runoff from the detention center could flow into tribal lands, changing vegetation growth. That could lead to fish kills and block humans and wildlife from moving throughout certain areas, she said. Marcel Bozas, director of the Miccosukee Tribe's fish and wildlife department, said tribe members hunt and fish for subsistence and cultural reasons. Sustained human activity can drive away game animals, like whitetail deer, as well as protected species, like Florida panthers, wood storks, eastern black rails and bonneted bats, he said. State official says Florida runs center Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles executive director David Kerner testified that the 1,800 state troopers under his command are authorized to detain undocumented migrants under an agreement with the US Department of Homeland Security. He said the federal government doesn't tell the state where to detain immigrants, and that the Everglades facility was built to alleviate overcrowding at federal immigration detention facilities, as well as state and county facilities with agreements to hold federal immigration detainees. Kerner couldn't say how many of the 'Alligator Alcatraz' detainees have been charged with violent crimes or whether any other sites besides the middle of the Everglades were considered for possible detention centers. Attorneys for federal and state agencies last month asked Williams to dismiss or transfer the injunction request, saying the lawsuit was filed in the wrong jurisdiction. Even though the property is owned by Miami-Dade County, Florida's southern district is the wrong venue for the lawsuit because the detention center is in neighboring Collier County, which is in the state's middle district, they said. Williams had yet to rule on that argument. Facility faces a second legal challenge In a second legal challenge to 'Alligator Alcatraz,' a federal judge over the weekend gave the state more time to prepare arguments against an effort to get the civil rights litigation certified as a class action. US District Judge Rodolfo Ruiz in Miami said he will only consider a motion by detainees' lawyers for a preliminary injunction during an Aug. 18 hearing. He set a Sept. 23 deadline for the state to respond to the detainee's class action request. The second lawsuit claims detainees' constitutional rights are being violated because they are barred from meeting lawyers, are being held without any charges, and a federal immigration court has canceled bond hearings. The lawsuits were being heard as DeSantis′ administration apparently was preparing to build a second immigration detention center at a Florida National Guard training center in north Florida. At least one contract has been awarded for what is labeled in state records as the 'North Detention Facility.'
Arab News
06-08-2025
- Arab News
Trump immigration crackdown boosts private prison profits
NEW YORK: One of the biggest US private prison companies announced a share repurchase program on Wednesday, the latest sign of an industry boom from President Donald Trump's crackdown on illegal immigration. Geo Group, one of the two leading US private prison companies, said the White House's policies will fuel their growth for the foreseeable future, even as executives pointed to staffing and infrastructure limitations that could constrain the Trump administration's mass deportation agenda. The US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency's target of hiring 10,000 workers is 'very expensive and very complicated,' said Geo Executive Chairman George Zoley, predicting it will 'take a long time' to reach that figure. 'You need more people to go across the country and identify people who are here unlawfully,' Zoley said on a conference call. 'One person doesn't go out and do this job by themselves. It's a whole team of people.' Florida-based Geo, which is adding thousands of beds for detainees at sites around the United States, reported profits of $29.1 million after losing $32.5 million in the year-ago period. Revenues rose 4.8 percent to $636.2 million. The company, which is also seeing growth in its transportation business for ICE, said its board had authorized $300 million in share repurchases. Company officials expect more of a revenue increase in 2026 from the ICE crackdown. By that point, four facilities currently being activated will be at capacity, resulting in annual revenues of $240 million. Geo also has another 5,900 beds at six company facilities that are currently idle. If fully utilized by ICE, they could yield another $310 million in annual revenues, Zoley said. But company officials suggested a widely-discussed Washington target of one million deported annually could be difficult in light of the constraints facing the operation. Trump's multi-year fiscal package approved by Congress in July triples ICE's detention budget to $45 billion over four years. Administration officials have said they need 100,000 beds at detention centers to reach their mass-deportation goals. Zoley estimated that private companies currently have capacity for 75,000 or 80,000 beds, leaving a gap that could be met at military bases or by the US states. 'They are communicating with many red states in particular,' said Zoley, who mentioned Florida, Texas and Louisiana among the Republican-controlled states whose public sectors are being enlisted. 'These are unchartered waters for the agency to expand their platform of detention nationally... to literally more than double the size of the previous administration,' he said. 'It can't be done overnight.' Shares of Geo rose 2.6 percent. After the stock market closed, CoreCivic, the other leading private prison company, lifted its financial targets after reporting that second-quarter profits more than doubled to $38.5 million.
