Judge considers whether ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ challenge was filed in wrong venue

MIAMI (AP) — A legal challenge to a hastily-built immigration detention center in the Florida Everglades was filed in the wrong venue, government attorneys argued Wednesday in the first of two hearings over the legality of “Alligator Alcatraz” in a lawsuit brought by environmental groups.

Even though the property is owned by Miami-Dade County, Florida’s southern district is the wrong venue for the federal lawsuit by environmental groups since the detention center is located in neighboring Collier County, which is in the state’s middle district, according to government arguments.

Any decision by U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams in Miami about whether to move the case could also influence a separate lawsuit brought by civil rights advocates who say that detainees at “Alligator Alcatraz” have been denied access to attorneys and immigration courts.

The federal and state government defendants in the civil rights case also argue that the lawsuit was filed in the wrong venue. At the request of a judge, the civil rights groups on Tuesday filed a revised class-action complaint arguing that the detainees’ constitutional rights were being violated.

Environmental groups filed their lawsuit against federal and state officials in Florida’s southern district last month, asking for the project being built on an airstrip in the heart of the Florida Everglades to be halted because the process didn’t follow state and federal environmental laws. Besides Wednesday’s hearing over venue, a second hearing has been scheduled for next week on the environmental groups’ request for temporary injunction.

The first of hundreds of detainees arrived a few days after the lawsuit was filed, and the facility has the capacity to hold 3,000 people.

The detention center was opened by Florida officials, but critics said it’s unclear whether federal immigration officials or state officials are calling the shots. Deportation flights from “Alligator Alcatraz” started last week.

Williams on Monday ordered that any agreements be produced in court between the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Florida Department of Emergency Management, a move that could shed some light on the relationship between federal and state agencies in running the facility.

Critics have condemned the facility as a cruel and inhumane, as well as a threat to the ecologically sensitive wetlands, while Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and other Republican state officials have defended it as part of the state’s aggressive push to support President Donald Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration.

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