ICE Detainers

Calling it "exactly the kind of disaster that Congress took pains to avoid," attorneys for immigrants held at a detention center in the Everglades filed a lawsuit alleging Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration lacks the authority to run the facility.The lawsuit, filed Friday in the federal court’s Middle District of Florida, is the third major legal challenge to the detention center, erected by the DeSantis’ administration as part of the state’s support of President Donald Trump’s mass deportation efforts.

A federal judge has halted further expansion of the immigration detention center known as "Alligator Alcatraz" in the Florida Everglades. The judge on Thursday also ordered the facility to wind down operations within two months. U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams stated that Florida officials never adequately explained the need for the facility in the middle of the sensitive wetlands. She also noted that state and federal defendants failed to conduct an environmental review before building the detention center. Federal and Florida officials had hailed the facility as a model for President Donald Trump's immigration policies.

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency is ramping up its hiring efforts to support President Donald Trump's mass deportation goals. The Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Georgia is training new recruits. Concerns about training standards have been raised, but ICE officials insist they are maintaining quality. Training includes firearms, driving techniques, de-escalation and immigration law, with a focus on the Fourth Amendment and immigration law. The agency is receiving $76.5 billion from Congress, with $30 billion earmarked for new staff. ICE aims to hire 10,000 new deportation officers by the end of the year.

Civil rights lawyers say many migrant detainees in Florida's "Alligator Alcatraz" are being barred from meeting regularly with attorneys and are being held in dangerous conditions.

Florida's corrections agency and ICE updated an agreement on handling federal immigration detainees, but they did it more than a month after 'Alligator Alcatraz' opened. This update was made public Thursday in court documents. The facility built in the Florida Everglades has faced criticism for allegedly restricting detainees' access to attorneys and immigration courts. A civil rights lawsuit has been filed, and a federal judge has ordered officials to clarify who has legal authority over detainees. Another judge in a separate lawsuit temporarily halted construction on Thursday while she considers whether it violates environmental laws. Florida claims detainees have had access to legal counsel.

Florida House Democrats in Tallahassee are demanding answers from the state Department of Children and Families over its role in handing over a foster child from Honduras to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials. The boy, Henry, is a suspected undocumented immigrant.

A University of Florida international student from Colombia who was renewing his student visa was arrested in a traffic stop and is being held by immigration agents in South Florida, his family says.A Gainesville police officer stopped Felipe Zapata Velásquez, 27, on March 28 driving near the UF football stadium and ticketed him because his sedan’s registration had expired in July 2024 and his driver’s license had expired in 2023, according to court records.

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier said his office would investigate Monday night's split vote by the Fort Myers City Council that will now block city police from entering into a federal government agreement on immigration operations.

Haitian American advocate calls measures such as school and church raids un-American

The Florida House passed a bill Wednesday that would fine local governments and law enforcement agencies that do not fully comply with federal immigration…