In the depths of Everglades, in a group of swamps surrounded by snakes, crocodiles and mosquitoes, which is unabated, Florida opened a temporary detention center that critics say unlike anything the country has seen before. Displacement there is outside the federal system, and they are transferred from lawyers and families, and in the circumstances that defenders describe as illegal and dangerous.
“This facility has already become a catastrophe in the first few weeks of its operations, with escalating reports on disease, illegal removal and people who deprive all kinds of basic rights,” said Spencer Amdor, a lawyer for the ACLU immigrant rights project.
The site, which was built on a hurry on flooding ground, was called “Alcatraz”. Immigrant rights groups – including the American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU in Florida, the community justice project and the National Center for Migratory Justice – presented a Federal lawsuit Friday, on the pretext that the state has no authority to run up to immigration prison.
Amy Godshall, a legal colleague of the American Civil Liberties Union in Florida, said Florida had poured “hundreds of thousands of taxpayers tax” in the project only to strip the detainees of basic rights. She said: “The circumstances were not only hateful, but the detention itself is illegal.” “Families cannot even know the location of their loved ones.”
At the case center, Florida relied on what is known as 287 (g) an agreement. The program, created by Congress, law enforcement agencies and local states, provides partnership with federal immigration authorities. Under these agreements, local employees can perform some migration tasks – but only in very limited and always under close supervision of federal officials.
In practice, this usually means verifying the state of immigration for people who are already in local reservation for other reasons, such as after arrest. The countries do not give the ability to build or operate their detention centers, and are not allowed to deliver immigration duties to private contractors.
“People are detained without charge, cut off their lawyer and made non -visible in the immigration system,” said Godshall.
The lawsuit also claims that officers working in the detention center lacks appropriate training, and sometimes receive only a few hours of online education compared to weeks of personal preparation required from federal agents. Defenders argue that this gap has errors and exacerbates the risks allocated inside.
Mark Fleming, Assistant Director of Lading at the National Center for Migrants, described the detention site “unprecedented”, noting what he described as a serious deficiency in censorship. He said: “The lack of accountability and deprivation resulting from the remote and inhuman detention camp in Florida Evergels is exactly the reason that Congress made it illegal.”
This week’s court ruling has stopped more detainees’ transfer to Everglades, but there is already there inside, according to the groups behind the lawsuit. Currently, the future of “Alcatraz” will be determined in the Federal Court.