Alligator Alcatraz

Every weekday, Billy Botsch takes an hourlong trip on two trains to Miami immigration court. He isn't a lawyer. He doesn't have a family member due to appear. He watches and takes notes from hundreds of hearings. WLRN asked him to keep a diary for a day.

Attorneys for the state object to the request citing security risks and operational disruptions of a judge visiting the facility.

The decision came from a federal judge who said a detainee, identified as M.A., failed to show irreparable harm.

This week on "The Florida Roundup," we talked about free speech and consequences, what newly released I.C.E. data tells us about who has been detained at “Alligator Alcatraz” and more.

"These findings confirm a deliberate system built to punish, dehumanize, and hide the suffering of people in detention," said Ana Piquer, Amnesty International's Regional Director for the Americas, in a statement accompanying the report.

Five lawmakers filed the lawsuit in July after they made an unannounced visit to the facility dubbed "Alligator Alcatraz” but were denied access.

Attorneys for the detainees are seeking a preliminary injunction to improve communication with their clients. They claim current practices make it difficult to meet before key deadlines.

The Sarasota County Sheriff's Office has reaped hundreds of thousands in taxpayer dollars to fund the effort through reimbursements from the state’s Immigration Enforcement Board and tens of thousands for its work at Alligator Alcatraz.

U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams previously ordered the facility to wind down operations, but that injunction was put on hold by an appellate court panel.

He discusses the lack of transparency around ICE's agreements with local law enforcement agencies to carry out federal immigration policies and what that means for democracy and the First Amendment.

Federal officials confirmed that a $608 million reimbursement had been approved for the center earlier this month.

The DOJ admits detainees likely include people who have never been in removal proceedings while arguing they don't have enough in common to be certified as a class in a lawsuit over access to attorneys.