Judge seeks settlement in 'Alligator Alcatraz' civil rights lawsuit

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FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) — A federal judge in Florida wants civil rights attorneys and lawyers for the U.S. and for Florida to meet next month to hammer out a settlement in a lawsuit over whether detainees at an immigration center in the Everglades known as “Alligator Alcatraz” are getting adequate access to legal representatives.

During a Monday status hearing, U.S. District Judge Sheri Polster Chappell set a conference for Dec. 16-17 in her Fort Myers courtroom.

“I think we’re closer on a lot of issues than we were before,” Polster Chappell said. “And I would think that the parties can come to the table and reasonably come to some agreements that aren’t going to be overly burdensome on the defendants but also will allow the plaintiffs to have the rights that they deserve.”

Attorneys representing detainees at the facility are seeking a preliminary injunction to make it easier for their clients to meet and communicate with them. The detention center was built last summer at a remote airstrip in the Everglades by the administration of Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Eunice Cho, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union, said Monday that detainees’ attorneys must make an appointment to visit three days in advance, unlike at other detention facilities where lawyers can just show up during visiting hours. She pointed out that detainees often are transferred to other facilities after their attorneys have made an appointment to see them and that scheduling delays have been so lengthy that detainees are unable to meet with attorneys before key deadlines.

Nicholas J.P. Meros, an attorney for the state, said most of the concerns initially raised by the detainees and their attorneys have been addressed and that previous delays were due to trying to construct a facility for thousands of detainees in a remote area with little infrastructure.

The lawsuit is one of three federal cases. In an environmental lawsuit, a federal appellate court panel in September allowed the center to continue operating by putting on hold a lower court’s preliminary injunction ordering it to wind down by the end of October.

A third lawsuit claims immigration is a federal issue and that Florida agencies and private contractors hired by the state have no authority to operate the facility.

President Donald Trump toured the facility in July and suggested it could be a model for future lockups nationwide as his administration pushes to expand the infrastructure needed to increase deportations. While the facility was built and operated by the state and its private contractors, federal officials have approved reimbursing Florida for $608 million.