(The Center Square) – Hearing immigration cases near Miami as directed by the Trump administration this past weekend has led to the dismissal of part of a lawsuit involving Alligator Alcatraz.
Judge Rodolfo Ruiz, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, issued a 47-page ruling on Monday evening. He wrote that the immigration hearings designated for the Krome North Processing Center takes care of a Fifth Amendment claim.
Remaining First Amendment claims are being moved to the Middle District courtroom. There, arguments on meetings between detainees and their lawyers will be heard.
Eunice Cho, an American Civil Liberties Union lawyer for the detainees, said litigation should not have been necessary. Ruiz wrote that “nearly every aspect of the plaintiffs’ civil action” has changed with each filing since initiation on July 16.
In another case involving Alligator Alcatraz, or the South Detention Facility as it is more formally known, a 14-day stoppage on additional construction was made Aug. 7. In that case, U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams in Miami is expected to rule this week.
