District Judge Rodolfo Ruiz has ordered Florida officials to submit all contracts and agreements regarding the “Alligator Alcatraz” detention center. The order followed a civil rights lawsuit alleging constitutional violations against detainees, and aims to clarify legal authority and oversight at the facility. Immigration attorneys claimed detainees at “Alligator Alcatraz” are held without charges, denied legal access, and have had bond hearings canceled.
Ruiz stated, “Federal and state officials in Florida must produce agreements showing which government agency or private contractor has legal authority to detain people or perform immigration officer roles at ‘Alligator Alcatraz,’ the immigration detention facility in the Everglades.”
Ruiz added, “Officials must provide by Thursday all written agreements and contracts showing who has legal custody of the hundreds of detainees at the facility that was hastily constructed more than a month ago on an isolated airstrip in South Florida’s Everglades wilderness.”
…The facility’s oversight has been unclear since its July opening. The Archdiocese of Miami has confirmed it conducted the first Mass at the detention center following negotiations for pastoral care for the detainees.
Ruiz stated, “We need to get to the bottom of the interplay between the federal and state authorities on who’s running this thing.”
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/judge-delivers-blow-to-new-detention-center/ss-AA1Kdyyu