'Alligator Alcatraz': ACLU sues Trump administration, claiming detention site violates rights

MIAMI, Fla. - The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has officially filed a class-action lawsuit against President Donald Trump's administration over lack of access to legal counsel and violations of due process for people detained at Florida’s "Alligator Alcatraz." The immigration detention facility opened earlier this month in the Florida Everglades. 

ACLU sues Trump administration

What we know:

Immigrants' rights advocates with the ACLU filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration on Wednesday, alleging that the "Alligator Alcatraz" immigration detention site denies detainees access to lawyers and violates their rights.

The class-action lawsuit was filed by attorneys from the ACLU and Americans for Immigrant Justice in the federal Southern District of Florida. Four men detained at the center are named as plaintiffs in the lawsuit, as well as three law firms, a legal-services organization and an attorney. Federal and state officials and agencies, including U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, are named as defendants in the lawsuit. 

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The lawsuit alleges there are no protocols for confidential attorney-client communication, that lawyers have been barred from entering the facility and that officials have "made it virtually impossible for detainees, or their counsel, to file documents required to contest their detention with the immigration court."

‘Dark chapter in our nation's history'

What they're saying:

"No protocols exist at this facility for providing standard means of confidential attorney-client communication, such as in-person attorney visitation and phone or video calls that are available at any other detention facility, jail or prison," the lawsuit says. "The only way that detained people can communicate with the outside world is via infrequent access to collect pay phone calls that are monitored and recorded, and last approximately five minutes."

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"This facility opens another dark chapter in our nation’s history," Eunice Cho, senior counsel with the ACLU’s National Prison Project and the lead attorney in the case, said. "Its very existence is predicated on our country’s basest impulses and shows the danger of unchecked governmental authority when combined with unbridled hate. It represents an attack on common decency, and in this case, its treatment of detained people is also unlawful. The U.S. Constitution does not allow the government to simply lock people away without any ability to communicate with counsel or to petition the court for release from custody. The government may not trample on these most fundamental protections for people held in its custody."

"Access to counsel empowers immigrants — and all people — to participate in their own legal defense, which has irreversible and lifelong consequences," Sui Chung, executive director of Americans for Immigrant Justice, said. "The conditions inside this facility are deeply concerning and paint a stark picture of the disregard for the well-being of individuals in custody. Such a facility, operating in near secret, and denying fundamental rights, is a stain on our justice system and represents a threat to American values and our recognition of human rights."

"Alligator Alcatraz" is a 5,000-bed immigration detention center in the Florida Everglades. 

What is ‘Alligator Alcatraz?’

Dig deeper:

Florida's controversial "Alligator Alcatraz" immigration detention center opened on July 1, and the first group of detainees arrived on July 3. The opening day event was marked by a visit from Trump and Noem. At least 700 people are now being held at the facility, according to the lawsuit. DeSantis said the facility can "easily" house 3,000 to 4,000 detainees.

The facility, located in the Florida Everglades at the abandoned Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport, was quickly constructed and named "Alligator Alcatraz" to highlight its remote and swampy location. The opening of the facility was a collaborative effort between Florida and the federal government, with DeSantis using emergency powers to take over the site. 

The 5,000-bed immigration detention center is built out of temporary tents, trailers and chain-link fences with barbed wire. It is surrounded by alligators, pythons, mosquitos and swampland, and is at risk of dangerous flooding. 

Critics of the facility, including Rep. Maxwell Frost, say the site is inhumane, while supporters argue the system is overwhelmed. Members of Congress who have visited the site report abysmal conditions, including searing hot temperatures, lack of access to water, backed-up toilets and sewage, inadequate food, and denial of religious rights.

'Alligator Alcatraz' opens, protestors outside while Trump tours

'Alligator Alcatraz' officially opened in the Florida Everglades. President Trump took a tour of the immigration detention facility Tuesday. FOX 35's Marie Edinger spoke with protestors outside the facility.

Last month, DeSantis also announced plans to build a second detention facility at North Florida’s Camp Blanding, a training site for the Florida National Guard. He said plans for the facility would move forward "once there’s a demand" for bed space and more detainees are housed at the Everglades site.