Saying circumstances had changed, a federal judge in Miami dismissed a key claim in a lawsuit over Alligator Alcatraz detainees’ access to courts and legal services on Monday and moved the case to a different district.
U.S. District Judge Rodolfo A. Ruiz II wrote in a 47-page ruling that the lawsuit by lawyers and detainees at the Everglades immigration detention camp belonged in the Middle District of Florida because that court oversees legal disputes in Collier County, where the facility is largely located. He ordered the case transferred.
But first, he said an allegation that Alligator Alcatraz detainees had no access to immigration courts was rendered moot when the Trump administration in recent days designated Krome North Processing Center in west Miami-Dade County as the venue for detainees’ cases to be heard.
The designation came more than a month after the first detainees were brought to Alligator Alcatraz. But Ruiz wrote that there was nothing more to be done and tossed a claim alleging violations of detainees’ Fifth Amendment rights.
That left one claim — alleging a lack of confidential and swift access to attorneys in violation of the First Amendment — alive.
“Prudence in this matter has revealed changed circumstances, a moot claim, and improper venue warranting transfer,” Ruiz wrote.
Ruiz’s ruling came hours after he gathered attorneys on the case in his courtroom to debate a request by the American Civil Liberties Union and other plaintiffs to force the state and federal governments to identify an immigration court for the facility and a confidential channel for detainees to talk with their attorneys.
The lack of an official immigration court designated to handle cases for detainees held at the makeshift detention camp has been a chief sticking point for lawyers, who said the issue was a violation of detainees’ Fifth Amendment rights. Immigration attorneys said their clients initially began receiving hearings at Krome after Alligator Alcatraz opened in early July, but that quickly ended, leaving detainees unable to petition the courts for bond.
Attorneys for the plaintiffs noted Monday that the government had shifted its position three times when pressed on which court had jurisdiction over Alligator Alcatraz, and said they were concerned the government might switch its position again. But Ruiz dismissed that concern after pressing attorneys for the federal government to affirm that Krome was now hearing cases for detainees.
“If for whatever reason, the website changed or the determination disappeared, then the court would have grounds to reengage the parties and find out exactly what’s going on when it comes to the Fifth Amendment claim,” Ruiz said.
The plaintiffs also argued that, though the government has begun allowing in-person visitation by attorneys to meet their clients, the state has been slow in responding to requests for visits and records the phone calls and videoconferences detainees have with their attorneys. Lawyers say they have to send documents ahead of each in-person consultation.
The ACLU attorneys claimed the state’s violation of detainees’ First Amendment rights has caused “irreparable harm.” They said one was erroneously deported while he was still in his immigration proceedings and had no removal order. They said officers have been pressuring detainees to sign voluntary removal papers without them first speaking to counsel. One attorney said her client, an intellectually disabled detainee, was tricked into signing a voluntary removal order by being told he was signing a piece of paper to receive a blanket.
“This is why access to council is so paramount and such an important right to make sure is not violated at the facility,” said Eunice Cho, an attorney with the ACLU.
Attorneys for the state, which oversees operations at Alligator Alcatraz, said attorneys can already meet with their clients without being overheard by guards. They said when videoconferencing began on July 15, it was in a boxed area separated by drapes. Now, detainees can use the same booths for in-person attorney visits for video conferencing, they said.
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