A man held at the Florida Everglades immigration detention center known as “Alligator Alcatraz” agreed to be deported to Chile and filed a motion Monday to dismiss his federal lawsuit challenging the facility, his attorneys said Tuesday.
The detainee, identified in court documents only as M.A., filed the dismissal in federal court in Fort Myers. “Petitioner is no longer detained at Alligator Alcatraz, he has formally agreed to be removed, and he will soon have left the United States,” his attorneys wrote in the court motion. Spencer Amdur of the American Civil Liberties Union, one of M.A.’s attorneys, confirmed by phone Tuesday that M.A. would return to Chile.
The dismissal removes one of three active federal court challenges to the facility, which Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s administration built at a remote Everglades airstrip to support President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement push. The facility received its first detainees in July.
The lawsuit’s claims
M.A.’s lawsuit argued that immigration enforcement is a federal matter and that Florida agencies and private contractors hired by the state had no authority under federal law to operate the detention center. The lawsuit also said detainees who entered the facility disappeared from the normal detainee tracking system and had difficulty accessing legal help.
According to court documents, M.A. is married to a U.S. citizen and has five stepchildren who are also U.S. citizens. He entered the United States in 2018 on a visa and later applied for asylum. Before his arrest last July, he held a work permit, a Social Security card, and a driver’s license.
After his arrest, but before his transfer to the Everglades facility, officers pressured him to sign an English-only form he did not understand, which was later identified as a voluntary removal form, court documents said.
During his time at the detention center, M.A. was twice hospitalized and placed in a wheelchair due to a condition in which he was unable to feel his legs. “M.A. entered the facility able to walk, but he is now in a wheelchair,” his lawsuit said.
Two federal lawsuits remain active
Two other federal cases challenging the Everglades facility remain active. In a separate suit, a federal judge in Miami ordered the facility to wind down operations over two months after officials failed to conduct a required environmental impact review. An appellate court panel put that ruling on hold, allowing the facility to continue operating while the appeal proceeds.
In a third case, detainees are seeking a court ruling to ensure they have access to confidential communications with their attorneys. During an online hearing Tuesday, attorneys outlined plans for a preliminary-injunction hearing at the end of the month. ACLU attorneys said they would likely call former detainees now living outside the United States to testify remotely.
Florida’s detention expansion
Florida has led other states in constructing facilities to support the federal immigration crackdown. Alongside the Everglades center, the state has opened an immigration detention facility in the northeastern part of Florida and is looking at opening a third in the Panhandle.