Alligator Alcatraz

A man recently released from Alligator Alcatraz said conditions at the immigrant detention center are tortuous and inhumane, and a waste of taxpayer resources.

In the first seven months of President Donald Trump's second term, authorities arrested and detained parents of at least 11,000 U.S. citizen children — a number that, if the pace held up, will have roughly doubled by now. That’s an average of more than 50 U.S. citizen kids a day with a parent pulled into detention.

Florida is finally eligible for a $608 million federal grant to help pay for the state’s migrant lockups after the Trump administration lifted an environmental funding hold that had stalled the dollars for months.

Florida lawmakers approved significant new guardrails Friday for the multibillion-dollar emergency fund that Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration used to construct and operate the sprawling immigration detention center in the Florida Everglades dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz.”

On "The Florida Roundup," Eve Samples with Friends of the Everglades discussed the organization's lawsuit against the state for "Alligator Alcatraz" and more.

The federal government is withholding a $608 million grant to help pay for Florida’s migrant lockups because a required environmental review still hasn’t been completed, newly released records show.

Federal lawyers say any reimbursement — if it comes — would cover only operational costs.

Florida emergency officials say the fire does not threaten the state-run immigration detention facility called “Alligator Alcatraz.”

A Colombian legislator joined local clergy and immigrant advocates on Sunday in demanding Alligator Alcatraz be closed and detainees released to end what they describe as a "national and international" human rights crisis.

Attorneys say detainees at Florida's "Alligator Alcatraz" still struggle to reach their lawyers, despite state claims that access problems are fixed. On Thursday, two lawyers filed statements with a federal court that their clients cannot call them using staff cellphones. They also say they still cannot make unannounced visits.

Florida’s emergency managers spent more than $405 million in taxpayer dollars in six months to fight illegal immigration, but that doesn’t just include law enforcement, state spending records show: It covers private jet flights, restaurant meals, and badges.

Prolonged detention has become more common in President Donald Trump’s second term, at least partly because a new policy generally prohibits immigration judges from releasing detainees while their deportation cases wind through backlogged courts.