The federal government has deported 100 people held at the notorious site in an old airstrip and flown out hundreds more to other hubs, such as Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s staging facility in Louisiana, DeSantis said during the on-site press conference.

“You’re going to see the cadence on these flights start to pick up, obviously,” he said. “Honestly, to get to where we were the beginning of this month, and now have flights leaving already with a facility that’s been built out, that’s incredible.”

Two dozen people chose to self-deport from the detention center at the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport, the governor said.

An ICE spokesperson refused to answer questions about the deportation flights, directing Florida Phoenix to the Florida Division of Emergency Management. That state agency is in charge of the state-run detention center, but the federal government operates deportations.

The governor also continued defending the state’s operation of the detention center, dismissing detainee accounts about rotting food, denial of medical care, scarce access to showers, and malfunctioning toilets. Immigrants at the detention center in the Everglades are also demanding access to their attorneys in a class action lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, ICE, DeSantis, and the head of DEM.

DEM director Kevin Guthrie grew increasingly agitated while defending the conditions at the detention center.

“So again, simple answer: Absolute crap,” he said. “We have on this facility, the ability of a full-fledged medical center with X-ray capability, sonogram capability, prescription med capability.”

The emergency head also scoffed at questions about the bidding process for the hundreds of millions in contracts for the detention center the state removed from a public database. Guthrie said the line item details of the contracts were removed so other competitors couldn’t see the rate the state paid.

“You got me riled back up again. Sorry about that,” he said.

Orlando Democratic Rep. Anna Eskamani has been one of the most ardent critics of the $245 million AP has reported the state has spent on the detention center. She has pointed out the deletion of the contracts from the state’s database on X.

“This entire press conference at the Everglades Immigrant Detention Camp is all about damage control,” she wrote on X. “We have an administration that is actively hiding contracts, information, and detainees from the public. Hundreds who are NOT criminals. And doing it all on the public’s dime.”

Eskamani is one of five Democrats in the state Legislature suing the DeSantis administration to gain oversight access to the detention center.

Although the press conference was at the detention center, press were not allowed inside. DeSantis sustained the decision, saying journalists had toured when President Donald Trump visited on July 1.

“Here’s the thing. This is not a spectacle. Okay?” DeSantis said. “You don’t get to go into other facilities willy nilly either.”

Florida Phoenix is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Florida Phoenix maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Michael Moline for questions: info@floridaphoenix.com.

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The post DeSantis says deportation flights have started at Florida Everglades immigrant detention center appeared first on Creative Loafing Tampa.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrests of people without criminal charges or convictions in Florida rose by more than 450% this June compared to last year.

Since the start of the second Trump administration, ICE has carried out more than 10,818 arrests in Florida, up from 3,496 in the same period last year. But in June, the largest share of arrests, 36%, were of people the federal government labeled as having no criminal history in the country, a 457% increase from June 2024.

The latest arrest data from ICE through June 26 was published by the Deportation Data Project and obtained as a result of a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit. The project is led by attorneys and professors in California, Maryland and New York. The anonymized individual arrests dataset provides insight into who the Trump administration is targeting in its goal to ramp up deportations and as Gov. Ron DeSantis insists on making the state a leader in internal immigration enforcement.

“We still got a lot, a lot, a lot that we got to do, but obviously we’ve led the way on this, and we’ll continue setting the pace,” DeSantis said during a Tuesday meeting of the State Board of Immigration Enforcement, which the Florida Legislature created earlier this year and comprises the Florida Cabinet.

The governor emphasized the role of local law enforcement in gaining authorization from the federal government to arrest people they suspect live in the state without legal authorization under a program known as 287(g). Florida law enforcement agencies have the most 287(g) agreements with ICE in the country, 237, extending to police within higher education institutions.

Overcrowding in immigrant detention centers

Florida’s increase is even higher than the national jump in arrests of people without a U.S. criminal history. According to the data from ICE, such arrests increased by 84% nationwide between May and June. Meanwhile, arrests of immigrants with criminal convictions decreased by 1%.

Living in the country without permanent legal status is not a crime, unless the person has been deported before. However, entering by avoiding immigration authorities is a crime that can be punishable with a fine of up to $250 and six months’ imprisonment for the first offense, per federal statute.

ICE daily detainee estimates have also shown a jump in the people held at the federal facilities in Florida this year. As of June 20, the number of people in immigration detention at three Florida facilities was 111% higher than the levels before the inauguration, according to an analysis by Human Rights Watch. Overall, the estimated daily detainee population as of July 17 was 1,932, which is nearly 500 more than before Trump took office.

Although the data provide daily estimates of detention, Florida has been less transparent in its operations of the notorious immigrant removal center it built in eight days in the Everglades.

The most detailed information came from the Miami Herald’s publication on July 13 of a list of 750 detainees housed in the old airstrip, including more than 250 people without criminal convictions or pending charges in the U.S.

Immigrants made to eat ‘like dogs’

Human Rights Watch’s report, published Monday, states that immigrants at three federal detention centers in Florida are held “under conditions that flagrantly violate international human rights standards and the United States government’s own immigration detention standards.”

Immigrants held at the Federal Detention Center in Miami have said they had to kneel to eat while their hands were restrained behind their backs.

“We were chained though, so we could not reach the plates with our hands,” said Harpinder Chauhan, a British man deported in June, whose account was published in the report. “We had to put the plates on chairs and then bend down and eat with our mouths, like dogs.” [content-1]

Need for beds

“The federal housing standards are ridiculous at best and insane at worst,” Judd said during the Tuesday meeting of the state immigration board.

Judd said the federal government didn’t seem amenable to granting the request to allow immigration detainment under Florida jail standards.

“If it’s good enough for those that are innocent until proven guilty, and they’re United States citizens, certainly those housing rules should be sufficient for those that are in this country illegally,” he said.

In his most recent comments about the state’s immigration enforcement efforts, the governor has talked about the need for the federal government to bolster its detention capacity.

Instead of moving quickly with the construction of a second state-run detention center, DeSantis wants to hold off, depending on demand from the feds and the capacity levels at the Everglades site state officials named “Alligator Alcatraz,” because of the dangerous reptiles would deter escape attempts.

DeSantis has emphasized the influx of $45 billion Congress gave ICE to build new detention centers as part of Trump’s massive tax and spending cut bill.

“We’ve gone above and beyond in Florida to assist this mission, because we think it’s really important for our state and for our country,” DeSantis said. “But they absolutely are going to need to take all that massive amount of money they just got and be able to provide a better ability to hold, process, and deport illegals.”

The seeming slowdown in opening the second state detention center at the Florida National Guard Joint Training Center in Clay County comes as the DeSantis administration faces mounting legal challenges to the Everglades facility located in Collier County. There is also growing scrutiny from Democratic lawmakers about the $245 million the DeSantis administration has spent to build and operate the detention center in just a month, according to AP.

Florida Phoenix is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Florida Phoenix maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Michael Moline for questions: info@floridaphoenix.com.

The post Florida sees surge in ICE arrests of immigrants without criminal convictions or charges appeared first on Creative Loafing Tampa.

The federal court hasn’t and won’t act as quickly as the groups want in the litigation against the speedy, eight-day construction of the detention center on an old airstrip. Before making their case for an emergency action, the environmental groups must defeat an attempt by the DeSantis and Trump administrations to get the case dismissed or transferred to another court.

The dispute over the facts, including the degree of involvement by the federal government, and the venue fight require the new judge, Kathleen Williams of the Southern District of Florida, to take a longer time to make a decision, that judge said during a Monday hearing.

She had taken over the lawsuit brought by Friends of the Everglades and the Center for Biological Diversity on Wednesday, after the previous judge, Jose Martinez, recused himself.

It has been nearly a month since the groups sued the Trump and DeSantis administrations and Miami-Dade County, which owns the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport, claiming construction of the center violates a federal law requiring analysis of potential environmental harms and that the state and federal governments proceeded without public input.

“I understand the plaintiffs have been waiting to have a hearing in front of a judge and have been emphatic about the need for quick resolution but, again, Judge Martinez’s conflict arose with some later filed pleading. Nobody saw that,” Williams said.

Williams will decide whether to carry on with the suit, to dismiss it, or send it to the Middle District of Florida following a July 30 hearing.

Paul Schwiep, an attorney for the environmental groups, rejected the notion that the plaintiffs filed the lawsuit in the wrong court.

“Suddenly, in an obvious attempt at judge-shopping, the state objects to Judge Williams’ ruling on this case,” he wrote in a press release Monday. “The state of Florida commandeered the detention center site from Miami-Dade County, the site is partially within Miami-Dade County, the county is a defendant, and the case was appropriately filed in Miami-Dade County.”

A separate hearing on whether to prohibit more construction at the tent and trailer site is scheduled for Aug. 6, even though  Schwiep urged the judge to take action Monday.

Schwiep emphasized to Williams reports of toilets that don’t flush, spoiled food, and non-potable water.

“The situation for those detainees is dire,” he said.

However, Williams said conditions at the detention center wouldn’t prompt her to act faster and were irrelevant to the case, adding that she saw this as environmental litigation and not an immigration challenge.

“Let me be clear, that is not before me at all,” she said, pointing to a class action detainees and their attorneys filed in the same court Thursday.

In June, Williams found Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier in civil contempt of court after he flouted her order barring enforcement of the state’s law making it illegal for undocumented immigrants to enter or re-enter the state. Gov. Ron DeSantis and Uthmeier have labeled Williams an activist judge.

Uthmeier named the facility “Alligator Alcatraz,” and his reelection campaign website sells shirts, hats, and other merchandise with the name.

Additionally, Williams expressed frustration with the plaintiffs’ shifting goals in the case. Originally, the organizations asked the court to halt construction and continued operations. Following the opening of the detention center, the plaintiffs changed their ask, wanting the court to instead prevent the defendants from bringing more people to the site.

The Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida’s request to intervene in the lawsuit, seeking a shutdown of the detention center, is still pending.

Florida Phoenix is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Florida Phoenix maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Michael Moline for questions: info@floridaphoenix.com.

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The post Environmental groups face more delays in lawsuit against ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ Everglades construction appeared first on Creative Loafing Tampa.

The governor signed a new agreement with the federal government on Friday, portraying it as Florida taking the lead on Everglades restoration projects, a goal DeSantis has been pursuing for years and has emphasized recently. Earlier this week, he marked a major milestone in the largest environmental restoration project ever: completion of a reservoir designed to prevent toxic algal blooms from polluting rivers in the state.

But his promotion of restoration efforts comes as he continues insisting the tent and trailer facility, meant to hold thousands of immigrants awaiting deportation, won’t harm the Everglades. His administration, the federal government, and Miami-Dade County officials are trying to ward off a legal battle from environmental groups over the speedy construction of the detention center at the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport.

State leaders are calling the facility “Alligator Alcatraz,” arguing dangerous reptiles would deter escape attempts.

24/7 detention center operation

Friends of the Everglades and the Center for Biological Diversity submitted in their plea to a federal court images of newly paved areas and light brightening the night sky from the detention center visible from approximately 15 miles away.

Tania Galloni, one of the attorneys representing Friends of the Everglades in the suit to halt the detention center, called laughable the notion that the 24/7 operation of a detention center in the Big Cypress National Preserve wouldn’t disrupt the habitat.

“He can’t claim to be the Everglades governor on one hand, and then plunk down this mass facility in the heart of the Everglades on the other hand,” she said in a phone interview with Florida Phoenix.

Although DeSantis denied new construction at the site during his press conference, the state has a $37 million contract with LTS Inc. that includes funding for permanent and temporary fencing and roadway construction, according to a copy of the contract obtained by NOTUS before state officials seemingly deleted dozens of contracts from a database.

Kevin Guthrie, head of the Florida Division of Emergency Management, which is in charge of the detention center, defended “minor paving projects” in response to the lawsuit.

“It is simply implausible that small-scale paving on previously developed land will cause irreparable environmental harm when the paving is next to a nearly two-mile-long paved runway,” the agency argued in a filing in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

Governor’s quest for power over Everglades restoration

The governor has brought up the matter in press conferences throughout the year, stating that Florida could finish the project at a much quicker pace.

“I would do that. Okay, let me ask myself: Permission granted,” Trump said during a July 1 roundtable at the detention center.

But it appears that DeSantis didn’t get exactly what he asked for.

While he wanted the Army Corps cut out of the process and for the federal government to block grant Florida the funds to complete the project, the new agreement still leaves the feds in charge of the main reservoir. However, Florida will handle the inflow and outflow pump stations and auxiliary features, a change that DeSantis said would speed completion by five years, to 2029.

Florida Phoenix is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Florida Phoenix maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Michael Moline for questions: info@floridaphoenix.com.

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The post As his administration fights off legal battle, DeSantis defends construction at Everglades detention center appeared first on Creative Loafing Tampa.

This class action from the detainees and their attorneys adds to the mounting legal opposition to the detention center, where people started arriving two weeks ago after a speedy eight-day construction at an old airstrip.

Since detainees’ transfer to the state-run detention center, attorneys have had to wait hours in their attempts to visit the site, only to be barred from entering, the complaint filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida states. Detainees held at the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport lack a way to communicate confidentially with their legal representation as guaranteed under the U.S. Constitution, it adds.

Four detainees and their legal representatives are asking a federal court to require the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Florida to provide access for in-person visits and unmonitored calls.

“What’s happening here is not just a policy failure, it’s a moral one,” said Bacardi Jackson, executive director of the ACLU of Florida, which is representing the plaintiffs. “The state has hastily erected a costly and deadly shadow prison in the middle of the Everglades during hurricane season to warehouse human beings — stripping them of due process and dignity, cutting them off from their families and legal counsel, intentionally putting their lives in danger, and leaving them to suffer in silence.”

The tent and trailer detention center is in a legal limbo, with the federal government disavowing responsibility for the detainees and the DeSantis administration insisting that it’s not a correctional institution. Its existence outside the federal and state systems — the Florida Division of Emergency Management is in charge — has made it extremely difficult for attorneys to locate detainees and file motions on their behalf.

Florida Republicans have labeled the center “Alligator Alcatraz” and are selling branded merchandise to raise campaign money.

Complaint outlines detention conditions

“Remember, this is not the Ritz-Carlton, okay. We’re not doing this just to let people have food and shelter, although they do get that. All the minimum standards are upheld, but the reality is it’s there to be a quick processing center.”

The American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Florida, and Americans for Immigrant Justice represent the plaintiffs in the case against DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and its leadership, DeSantis, and DEM director Kevin Guthrie.

So far, the state has lacked transparency about the number of people at the detention center, and the most detailed information has come from the Miami Herald, which published a list on Sunday of 750 detainees housed there, including more than 250 people without criminal convictions or pending charges in this country.

Although the lawsuit focuses on the detainees’ lack of access to attorneys and due process, the complaint details conditions detainees have described at the site, ranging from flooding inside tents and having to go days without showering to guards’ excessive use of force and denial of medication.

Michael Borrego Fernandez, a Cuban man taken to the detention center in the Everglades on July 5, is one of the plaintiffs. The complaint states he had to undergo emergency surgery at a local hospital on July 11 because of excessive bleeding while he was at the detention center. Staff didn’t give Borrego Fernandez the antibiotics prescribed following the surgery, his family told his attorneys.

Miami-Dade County law enforcement arrested Borrego Fernandez on July 5 over a parole violation involving outstanding traffic violations, and his family is working with his attorneys to seek his deportation to Cuba because of the conditions at the detention center.

Dismissing the claims in the lawsuit, DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin responded: “No lawbreakers in the history of human civilization have been treated better than illegal aliens in the United States, and yet all they do is complain.”

At the same time, the detention center is at the center of two additional lawsuits: One from environmental groups and the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida seeking to halt the site’s operation in the fragile ecosystem, and another from state Democratic lawmakers demanding oversight authority to conduct visits.

DEM and a spokesperson for DeSantis did not immediately respond to Florida Phoenix’s request for comment.

Florida Phoenix is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Florida Phoenix maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Michael Moline for questions: info@floridaphoenix.com.

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The post Immigrants held at Florida Everglades’ detention center are suing the Trump and DeSantis administrations appeared first on Creative Loafing Tampa.

The decision followed new reporting about poor conditions for those detained at the facility.

Lawmakers will be allowed entrance from 11 am to 12:30 pm. on Saturday, according to an email sent out by FDEM legislative affairs director Meigs Lamb.

Orlando-area Democratic state Rep. Anna Eskamani was one of five state legislative Democrats denied entrance to the facility last week. In a statement, she said she was glad to see public pressure force the state of Florida to open its doors for a scheduled tour of the Everglades Detention Center.

“But let’s be clear: This isn’t a field trip — it’s oversight,” she wrote. “The law grants us the right to enter these facilities unannounced, at any time. A scheduled 90-minute tour is not a substitute for lawful access and long-term legislative accountability. What FDEM is offering doesn’t undo their illegal denial or fulfill their legal obligation to us, members of the Florida Legislature. Floridians deserve genuine transparency, not curated photo opportunities, and we will continue to push for that type of unfettered access.”

State Sens. Carlos Guillermo Smith and Shevin Jones, and Reps. Angie Nixon and Michele Rayner, were also among the Democrats denied entry Thursday. They were told at the time that their entrance was being denied “due to safety concerns.”

“They claimed it wasn’t safe for us to enter unannounced but those same ‘safety concerns’ didn’t extend to those detained onsite or the president who toured two days prior,” Jones said in a written statement.

“Clearly, the state is trying to hide what is happening behind closed doors. I plan to join this weekend’s tour though fully expect it will be a sanitized version that suits the administration’s political objectives.”

The Democrats cited state statutes that allow them to inspect prisons and detention facilities.

However, on Monday night, a spokesperson for the FDEM said in a statement that another state statute grants inspection authority only to legislative committees, “not to individual legislators engaging in political theater. This distinction is crucial for ensuring that oversight is conducted through formal, established legislative processes.”

FDEM also said that while Florida statute 944.23 does authorize members of the Legislature to visit state correctional institutions, they have to be those under the jurisdiction of the Florida Department of Corrections.

“The Alligator Alcatraz facility is not under the jurisdiction of the Department of Corrections and does not otherwise fall within the statutory definition of a ‘state correctional institution,’” said FDEM spokesperson Stephanie Hartman, referring to the appellation given the facility by state leaders.

Poor conditions alleged
In recent days, there have been media reports about poor conditions at the 3,000 person-capacity tent and trailer detention center in the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport. Multiple detainees told the Miami Herald and CBS News that they had gone days without showering, the toilets didn’t flush, and temperatures fluctuated between extremes.

Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava urged Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier on Tuesday to let the county, which owns the land where the detention center is located, have remote video access, schedule visits, and receive weekly site reports.

Jeremy Redfern, communications director for Attorney General James Uthmeier, denied the request. He called the reporting about poor conditions at “Alligator Alcatraz” “fake news” on X.

Not everyone is buying that accusation.

Miami-Dade Republican state Sen. Ileana Garcia told the Phoenix that she will attend on Saturday, saying, “I’ve come across some complaints in the media that I’d like to investigate myself.”

Florida Phoenix is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Florida Phoenix maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Michael Moline for questions: info@floridaphoenix.com

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The post ‘This isn’t a field trip — it’s oversight’: After being denied entry, Florida lawmakers get access to Everglades detention facility appeared first on Creative Loafing Tampa.

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier had asked the nation’s highest court to remove a temporary block on enforcement of the law, which police and state troopers carried out even after the judge barred it. But the Supreme Court on Wednesday decided not to interfere.

At issue is SB 4C, a law Gov. Ron DeSantis signed in February, which makes it a first-degree misdemeanor for a person to enter the state as an “unauthorized alien.” Despite the intent to tackle illegal immigration, the law led to the arrest of a U.S. citizen from Georgia.

The Supreme Court’s decision came two days after the U.S. Department of Justice asked an appellate court to lift the block on the law, filing a brief stating that U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams, in the Southern District of Florida, erred in her decision.

“Florida’s law is in harmony, not conflict, with federal law,” the brief to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit states.

Both Williams and the Eleventh Circuit ruled that federal law likely preempts the state law, as the reasoning for the temporary block.

“Florida’s attempt to bypass federal authority and weaponize local law enforcement to police immigration status was not only unlawful, but it also put thousands of people at risk of unjust detention, separation, and abuse. We are grateful the Court upheld the block, and we remain committed to defending the rights and humanity of all Floridians.”

Uthmeier’s press secretary wrote to Florida Phoenix that the attorney general will continue the appeal of the block during the remainder of the litigation.

“Thanks to President Trump, we can still carry out the intent of Florida’s immigration law through our nation-leading number of 287(g) agreements with ICE, but Florida’s sovereignty cannot be left up to the whims of the next presidential administration,” Jae Williams wrote. “The law passed by the Legislature and signed by Governor DeSantis is important to Florida’s future, and we believe it will prevail on the merits.”

The attorney general must submit biweekly reports detailing arrests under the law as part of Williams’ ruling finding Uthmeier in civil contempt of court over his disobedience of her order to call off enforcement.

The first biweekly report from July 1 shows that St. Johns County arrested two men on counts of illegal entry on May 29.

Florida Phoenix is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Florida Phoenix maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Michael Moline for questions: info@floridaphoenix.com.

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The post US Supreme Court won’t allow Florida to enforce its controversial immigration law appeared first on Creative Loafing Tampa.

At issue is an anti-illegal immigration law Gov. Ron DeSantis signed in February, which prompted the arrest of a U.S. citizen from Georgia and led to a federal judge finding the state’s chief legal officer in civil contempt of court.

The federal government intervened on Monday, filing a brief stating that U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams erred in her temporary block on the enforcement of SB 4C, the law that makes it a first-degree misdemeanor for a person to enter the state as an “unauthorized alien.”

Florida lawmakers passed the law during a special session earlier this year to align the state with President Donald Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration.

Uthmeier already tried to get the appellate court to rescind the bar on the law, but it refused. The Florida Immigrant Coalition, the Farmworker Association of Florida, and two women lacking permanent legal status brought suit against the state in April.

Both Williams in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida and the Eleventh Circuit ruled that federal law likely preempts the state law.

Four months into his appointment by DeSantis as attorney general, Uthmeier faced Williams’ contempt ruling for his disobedience of her order to call off enforcement of SB 4C. Florida Highway Patrol and local police arrested dozens after the court order on April 4, including a 20-year-old U.S. citizen in Leon County.

Two arrests

Uthmeier, DeSantis’ former chief of staff, has also asked the U.S. Supreme Court to step in, submitting an application to Justice Clarence Thomas on June 17 to remove the bar on SB 4C’s enforcement.

Attorneys representing the plaintiffs wrote to the Supreme Court on Wednesday that the state hadn’t proved that the block on the law caused it irreparable harm.

“Florida of course has a wide range of nonimmigration criminal laws to address violent crime and drug trafficking, as well as myriad other crimes, and nothing in the injunction remotely limits the enforcement of those laws,” the response states. “Indeed, enforcing Florida’s preempted state immigration regime will harm public safety by eroding community trust in law enforcement.”

Florida Phoenix is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Florida Phoenix maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Michael Moline for questions: info@floridaphoenix.com.

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The post Feds intervene in argument that Florida should be allowed to enforce controversial immigration law appeared first on Creative Loafing Tampa.

The mayor cited in a Tuesday letter to the state’s top legal officer the county’s ownership of the land where the detention center is located as warranting remote video access, weekly reports, and scheduled site visits.Gov. Ron DeSantis used his authority under a 2023 emergency declaration against illegal immigration to commandeer the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport and built the detention center in eight days.

“Given the critical environmental significance of this area and the deep-rooted commitment Miami-Dade has made to properly protecting and preserving our treasured Everglades, it is imperative that local authorities maintain clear transparency in all stages of their handling,” Levine Cava wrote.

Additionally, the mayor voiced deep and growing concern about the safety of people in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in a separate Tuesday letter to Kristi Noem, secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Five people have died in ICE custody in Florida this year, three at the Krome North Service Processing Center in Miami, according to press releases from ICE.

“Detention centers like Krome and the newly opened facility in the Everglades have been placed in isolated areas with poor access to hospitals and legal counsel,” the mayor wrote.

The county received 32 calls regarding life-threatening conditions from the ICE detention center in Miami in June, Levine Cava wrote to Noem. In June 2024, there were five emergency calls.

Immigrant advocacy group wants legal action

The Florida Immigrant Coalition paid for two billboards calling for Levine Cava and county officials to sue the state to stop the detention center.

“We feel that the mayor and the county commission are not just failing to protect the rights and wellbeing of the detainees and prospective detainees at the facility, which is obviously the most important thing, but they’re not also protecting the interest of Miami-Dade residents, who theoretically are the owners of this land,” said Thomas Kennedy, a policy analyst for FLIC.

But the county is in defense mode in a lawsuit from environmental groups, asking the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida to halt activity at the detention center. Attorneys for the county responded to the suit from Friends of the Everglades and the Center for Biological Diversity on June 30 by stating that the court couldn’t force the county to take action against the state.

“State law affirmatively requires the County to use best efforts to support the enforcement of federal immigration law, and the County’s failure to comply with that statutory duty could have dramatically adverse consequences for the public interest, including but not limited to the suspension from office of County officials elected by the voters of Miami-Dade County,” the response states.

Who’s allowed to visit?

Officers guarding the site denied entrance to a group of state Democratic lawmakers Thursday.

“This is a blatant abuse of power and an attempt to conceal human rights violations from the public eye,” wrote Democratic Sens. Carlos Guillermo Smith and Shevrin Jones and Reps. Michele Rayner, Angie Nixon, and Anna Eskamani in a press release Thursday.A spokesperson for the Florida Division of Emergency Management, which is in charge of the detention center, wrote in an email to Florida Phoenix that the lawmakers were turned away because the center is not under the jurisdiction of the Florida Department of Corrections, and that statute only allows visits for legislative committees.

“Florida Statutes grants inspection authority to a legislative committee, not to individual legislators engaging in political theater,” wrote Stephanie Hartman, FDEM’s deputy director of communications. “This distinction is crucial for ensuring that oversight is conducted through formal, established legislative processes.”

FDEM, DHS, and the attorney general’s office didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment regarding Levine Cava’s letters.

Florida Phoenix is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Florida Phoenix maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Michael Moline for questions: info@floridaphoenix.com.

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The post Miami-Dade County Mayor wants monitoring authority over Florida’s new Everglades immigrant detention center appeared first on Creative Loafing Tampa.

The opening of the detention center drew almost immediate backlash and a lawsuit from environmental groups, arguing against construction in the highly sensitive environment of the Big Cypress National Preserve.

DeSantis labeled environmental concerns as illegitimate, claiming that construction occurred over already developed facilities, like the tarmac and taxiway, of the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport, and that any waste would be removed.

Other images that Friends of the Everglades and the Center for Biological Diversity entered as evidence in the suit show newly paved roads and light brightening the night sky from the detention center that were visible from approximately 15 miles away. Evidence shows the progression of the paved areas before and during construction.

“The environmental impacts will be devastating,” the groups wrote to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida on Thursday. “Defendants cannot hide from this fact — or from the public — under cover of darkness and avoid their responsibilities under federal law.”

The groups are suing the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Florida Division of Emergency Management, and Miami-Dade County alleging construction of the detention center violates a federal law that requires environmental analysis of potential harms and that the public did not get an opportunity to comment.

“The Governor is absolutely correct, Alligator Alcatraz was built only on existing runway facilities and paved areas,” a spokesperson for FDEM wrote in an email to Florida Phoenix. “All of those photos show pre-existing paved areas.”

During a Monday press conference in Jacksonville, DeSantis said the temporary structures from the 3,000-capacity tent and trailer detention center eventually would be broken down and moved. Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, who publicly rolled out the detention center he dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz,” announced on Wednesday that hundreds of people would arrive at the detention center that night.

“What we’re doing is temporary,” he said. “We’re not going to make permanent sites on these locations. You know, the place down in South Florida, it’s just a massive airport that’s there in the Everglades.”

Last week, the federal government distanced itself from responsibility for the site in its response to the suit, saying the federal regulations didn’t apply because it didn’t fund or authorize construction of the center.

President Donald Trump applauded Uthmeier for his role in opening the detention center during his July 1 visit.

“I know you’re taking a little heat from some environmental groups, but I take it all the time,” the president said. “That’s an honor.”

Florida Phoenix is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Florida Phoenix maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Michael Moline for questions: info@floridaphoenix.com.

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