Despite change of venue, Alligator Alcatraz plaintiffs argue they've still got the upper hand
By Tim Padgett
August 19, 2025 at 4:19 PM EDT
After a federal judge in Miami ordered a lawsuit against the Alligator Alcatraz migrant detention center in the Everglades be heard in another venue, plaintiffs say they're confident they still have an advantage in the case.
U.S. District Judge Rodolfo A. Ruiz II, who sits in the federal Southern District of Florida, ruled Alligator Alcatraz technically lies inside Collier County and not Miami-Dade.
As a result, Ruiz said the suit alleging unconstitutional practices at Alligator Alcatraz needs to be heard in a federal court in Florida's Middle District.
Ruiz also dismissed as “moot” the plaintiffs’ charge that detainees had no access to immigration courts, because federal officials have now designated the Krome migrant detention center in Miami for that purpose.
"That is actually an important victory for us," said Eunice Cho, lead attorney in the case for one of the plaintiffs, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).
"Because of this lawsuit, the federal government now has decided to reverse course, and is allowing people who are held in Alligator Alcatraz to be able to petition the immigration court to be released from detention.”
Cho also told WLRN the change of venue for the case "is certainly not a stumbling block for us."
But Cho said the plaintiffs were most encouraged that Ruiz did not dismiss their First Amendment complaint — that Alligator Alcatraz detainees do not have adequate in-person and confidential access to attorneys. Another federal judge in the case will still rule on that issue.
“The attorney access conditions at Alligator Alcatraz fall far below the Constitutional requirement," Cho argued. "We don’t think that is a difficult case [for us to prove] at all. So we look forward to continuing to fight in the Middle District of Florida.”
READ MORE: 'They chained me to the ground': Detainees at Alligator Alcatraz allege harsh punishment by guards
The Trump administration and the State of Florida insist that Alligator Alcatraz detainees have in fact had sufficient attorney access since late July.
But in his ruling, Ruiz in fact wrote that "the Federal Defendants are mistaken" in their argument that the First Amendment issue does not apply in the case.
Alligator Alcatraz — a name given the facility by Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier to emphasize its harsh and punitive surroundings — was hastily built in June alongside an idle airstrip in the Everglades of southwest Floirda and opened in the first week of July.
The tent-building structure was meant to house up to 5,000 criminal undocumented migrants and process them for deportation. But records show at least a third of its detainees have no criminal histories, and critics allege the facility too often bypasses legal due process in its handling of those sent there.
Moreover, detainees and their families have consistently complained of inadequate if not harmful living conditions, from food to heat to mosquitoes — and, according to some WLRN spoke with last month, punishment by guards. The Florida Department of Emergency Services, which operates Alligator Alcatraz, denies those accusations.
Alligator Alcatraz is embroiled in another suit, brought by environmental and indigenous groups, which seeks to have the facility shut down. It argues the Trump administration can't cede its exclusive constitutional responsibility on immigration enforcement and detention to the state of Florida or any state.
The suit alleges the administration did so in order to bypass federal environmental standards Alligator Alcatraz should have been subject to, but wasn't, when it was erected. The administration denies the charge.
Another judge in the federal Southern District of Florida, Kathleen Williams, is expected to rule on the suit in the coming days.
Meanwhile, Republican Florida Governor Ron DeSantis says the state is planning another Alligator Alcatraz-style detention center in north Florida, near Jacksonville.
U.S. District Judge Rodolfo A. Ruiz II, who sits in the federal Southern District of Florida, ruled Alligator Alcatraz technically lies inside Collier County and not Miami-Dade.
As a result, Ruiz said the suit alleging unconstitutional practices at Alligator Alcatraz needs to be heard in a federal court in Florida's Middle District.
Ruiz also dismissed as “moot” the plaintiffs’ charge that detainees had no access to immigration courts, because federal officials have now designated the Krome migrant detention center in Miami for that purpose.
"That is actually an important victory for us," said Eunice Cho, lead attorney in the case for one of the plaintiffs, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).
"Because of this lawsuit, the federal government now has decided to reverse course, and is allowing people who are held in Alligator Alcatraz to be able to petition the immigration court to be released from detention.”
Cho also told WLRN the change of venue for the case "is certainly not a stumbling block for us."
But Cho said the plaintiffs were most encouraged that Ruiz did not dismiss their First Amendment complaint — that Alligator Alcatraz detainees do not have adequate in-person and confidential access to attorneys. Another federal judge in the case will still rule on that issue.
“The attorney access conditions at Alligator Alcatraz fall far below the Constitutional requirement," Cho argued. "We don’t think that is a difficult case [for us to prove] at all. So we look forward to continuing to fight in the Middle District of Florida.”
READ MORE: 'They chained me to the ground': Detainees at Alligator Alcatraz allege harsh punishment by guards
The Trump administration and the State of Florida insist that Alligator Alcatraz detainees have in fact had sufficient attorney access since late July.
But in his ruling, Ruiz in fact wrote that "the Federal Defendants are mistaken" in their argument that the First Amendment issue does not apply in the case.
Alligator Alcatraz — a name given the facility by Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier to emphasize its harsh and punitive surroundings — was hastily built in June alongside an idle airstrip in the Everglades of southwest Floirda and opened in the first week of July.
The tent-building structure was meant to house up to 5,000 criminal undocumented migrants and process them for deportation. But records show at least a third of its detainees have no criminal histories, and critics allege the facility too often bypasses legal due process in its handling of those sent there.
Moreover, detainees and their families have consistently complained of inadequate if not harmful living conditions, from food to heat to mosquitoes — and, according to some WLRN spoke with last month, punishment by guards. The Florida Department of Emergency Services, which operates Alligator Alcatraz, denies those accusations.
Alligator Alcatraz is embroiled in another suit, brought by environmental and indigenous groups, which seeks to have the facility shut down. It argues the Trump administration can't cede its exclusive constitutional responsibility on immigration enforcement and detention to the state of Florida or any state.
The suit alleges the administration did so in order to bypass federal environmental standards Alligator Alcatraz should have been subject to, but wasn't, when it was erected. The administration denies the charge.
Another judge in the federal Southern District of Florida, Kathleen Williams, is expected to rule on the suit in the coming days.
Meanwhile, Republican Florida Governor Ron DeSantis says the state is planning another Alligator Alcatraz-style detention center in north Florida, near Jacksonville.