Democrats pose lots of questions to DHS about ‘Alligator Alcatraz’

South Florida U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Oregon U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley have written a letter calling on the heads of the Department of Homeland Security, ICE, and FEMA to provide detailed information regarding the operation of the Everglades immigration detention facility known as “Alligator Alcatraz.”

“Human rights experts have condemned the plan as ‘cruel and inhumane’ by design,” reads the letter, co-signed by more than 60 other Democrats from the House and Senate.

“Construction progressed at ‘turbo speed,’ and it remains unclear whether the facility has plans to ensure medical care, rapid hurricane evacuation, access to counsel, and sufficient infrastructure for sewage, running water, and temperature controls, despite being located in one of the ‘hottest parts of the state.’”

The lawmakers say they want federal authorities to provide extensive information about the facility by Sept. 3, including:

• Identify the legal authority that allows Florida to run the facility;
• Confirm that it meets federal standards for the treatment of detainees;
• Identify private vendors contracted to operate the facility;
• Identify criteria are used to segregate detainees;
• Explain what is being done to prevent contamination of drinking water;
• Explain any consultation with the Miccosukee and Seminole tribes before construction of the facility; and
• Tell whether any minors or women have been detained at the facility.

Six of the eight members of the Florida Democratic congressional delegation signed the letter; the only members who did not were South Florida Rep. Jared Moskowitz and Central Florida’s Darren Soto.

A federal judge on Monday dismissed part of a lawsuit over the legal rights of detainees at the facility.

U.S. District Judge Rodolfo Ruiz in the Southern District of Florida ruled that claims detainees at the facility lack confidential access to immigration court were rendered moot when the Trump administration designated the Krome North Processing Center near Miami as a site for the cases to be heard.

The court order transferred the case to the Middle District of Florida. The detention site is in Collier County, under the Middle District’s jurisdiction.

Eunice Cho, senior counsel at the ACLU National Prison Project, said Wednesday that because of the lawsuit the federal government is now allowing immigrants at Alligator Alcatraz the ability to petition the immigration court for release from detention.

Related litigation

A second lawsuit over environmental concerns at the facility by Friends of the Everglades and the Center for Biological Diversity has resulted in U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams ordering a 14-day pause on additional construction on the site while witnesses testify at a hearing.

Gov. Ron DeSantis announced last week that state officials are now working on opening a second immigration detention facility that will be called “Deportation Depot” within the Baker Correctional Institution, a temporarily closed state prison in Northeast Florida. It will hold around 1,300 detainees and is expected to open sometime next month.