Immigrants

The Lee County Courthouse was the home for a legal showdown between The Immigration Detention Center known as Alligator Alcatraz and several former detainees.

Florida lawmakers will be back for the legislative session. Many major topics including property taxes, school vouchers and exploring changes to Florida’s congressional maps will be discussed.

Public encouraged to come to a forum on where things stand and what may come for immigrants in America.

The shooting of a Minneapolis woman and mother was the focus of protest events in Southwest Florida.

A Leon County circuit judge has rejected a lawsuit filed by five Democratic lawmakers who sought access to the immigrant-detention center dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz,” saying laws about access to state prisons and local jails do not apply to the Everglades facility. Judge Jonathan Sjostrom on Friday sided with Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration in the lawsuit filed after lawmakers made an unannounced visit to the detention center in July but were denied access. The Democrats contended in the lawsuit the denial violated laws allowing access by legislators to correctional institutions.

President Donald Trump has issued the first vetoes of his second term, rejecting two bipartisan natural resources bills. The Tuesday vetoes had the effect of punishing backers of the bills who had opposed the president's positions on other issues. Trump vetoed drinking water pipeline legislation from Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado, a longtime ally who broke with the president over releasing files on convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. He also rejected legislation that would have given the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida more control over some of its land. The tribe was among groups suing the administration over an immigration detention center in the Everglades known as "Alligator Alcatraz."

Attorneys for detainees at a Florida immigration detention center known as "Alligator Alcatraz" want a federal judge to visit the facility. They argue this will help determine if detainees have sufficient access to legal counsel. On Friday, they asked U.S. District Judge Sheri Polster Chappell to make the visit within two months. The facility, built this summer, requires attorneys to schedule visits three days in advance. State attorneys object, citing security risks and operational disruptions. As of Monday, the judge hadn't ruled on the request. This case is one of three federal lawsuits challenging practices at the detention center.

The government's focus on perceived illegal immigration has reached a new high as over 65,000 people are being held in ICE Detention Centers, surpassing previous records.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has designated one of the largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy groups in the U.S. a "foreign terrorist organization," following a similar step by Texas last month. The directive against the Council on American-Islamic Relations comes in an executive order DeSantis posted on the social media site X Monday. It also gives the same label to the Muslim Brotherhood. Neither CAIR nor the Muslim Brotherhood is designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the U.S. government. The order instructs Florida agencies to prevent the two groups and those who have provided them material support from receiving contracts, employment and funds from a state executive or cabinet agency.

A report released Wednesday by Amnesty International alleges cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment at two immigration detention centers in Florida: The Everglades Detention Facility (“Alligator Alcatraz”) in eastern Collier County and the Krome North Service Processing Center ("Krome") in Miami.