一群参议院和众议院的民主党人正在敦促国土安全部的官员提供更多关于佛罗里达州大沼泽地移民拘留设施使用情况的信息鳄鱼阿卡特兹."
在周二晚些时候发给国土安全部、移民和海关执法局以及联邦应急管理局负责人的一封信中，议员们表示担心特朗普政府决定使用议员们所说的“新的国营移民拘留模式”可能违反联邦法律，并使联邦政府对移民拘留中心的条件不那么负责。
这封信发出之际，特朗普政府已经接受了使用国营设施-与联邦或私人监狱相反-在移民诉讼期间拘留非公民，包括使用关闭的州立监狱作为佛罗里达州的另一个场所，称为“驱逐站”，并在印第安纳州一个名为“Speedway Slammer”的惩教设施和内布拉斯加州一个名为“Cornhusker Clink”的设施中扩大冰拘留空间。
由8名参议员和57名众议员组成的小组写道:“专家担心，这种新颖的州立移民拘留模式将允许佛罗里达州创建一个与联邦拘留系统平行的‘独立、不负责任的拘留系统’。”。
“短吻鳄阿卡特兹”拘留设施一直是激烈的主题政治和法律审查因为它是6月份在佛罗里达沼泽地一个很少使用的飞机跑道上快速建造的。这个临时拘留中心目前可以容纳3000名等待驱逐出境的移民，总统唐纳德·特朗普和DHS国务卿克里斯蒂·诺姆在7月初参观了该中心。
“他们有很多保镖和很多鳄鱼模样的警察。你不必付给他们那么多钱。”特朗普在参观该设施时说。"我不想在沼泽地里跑太久."
在由俄勒冈州参议员杰夫·默克雷和佛罗里达州众议员黛比·乏色曼·舒尔茨牵头的这封信中，议员们要求国土安全部在9月3日之前提供有关该设施的更多信息。他们要求特朗普政府确定允许佛罗里达州运营该设施的法律授权，确认该设施符合被拘留者待遇的联邦标准，并概述DHS向佛罗里达州偿还该设施费用的标准。
“国土安全部(DHS)无视人权监察机构、环保团体和部落民族的关切，批准建造这个庞大的拘留设施，这可能侵犯被拘留者的人权，危害公共和环境健康，并违反联邦法律。我们要求DHS立即向美国公众提供关键信息，以更好地理解这项拘留计划，”民主党议员写道。
立法者还要求提供更多信息，说明该设施中被拘留者的合法权利以及该场所对环境的影响，这些问题一直是挑战该设施的两起联邦诉讼的核心。一名联邦法官出于对环境的担忧，暂时停止了该地点的进一步建设，一场关于合法进入的诉讼被驳回部分驳回特朗普政府在附近建立了一个移民法庭，以处理鳄鱼阿卡特兹引发的问题。
国土安全部的一名发言人没有立即回应对这封信的置评请求。国土安全部助理部长Tricia McLaughlin此前曾表示，该设施符合联邦拘留标准。
佛罗里达州州长罗恩·德桑蒂斯(Ron DeSantis)称赞“鳄鱼阿卡特兹”是佛罗里达州与特朗普政府合作执行驱逐出境的有效方式，并鼓励其他州也这样做。
“我知道，政府已经呼吁其他州效仿并扩大这种能力，我只想重申这一呼吁。我认为这很重要。我认为这会有所不同，”德桑蒂斯在7月份的一次新闻发布会上说。“整个目的是使这里成为一个可以促进非法外国人驱逐出境的频率和数量增加的地方。”
自“鳄鱼阿卡特兹”于7月开放以来，移民倡导者一直在争取获得更多关于该设施的信息，他们辩称，监管和运营细节最初是模糊的，以防止监督。根据正在进行的挑战该设施的诉讼中公布的文件，佛罗里达州应急管理部门和佛罗里达州警卫队以及私人承包商根据与联邦政府达成的287(g)协议运营该网站。
“虽然这些外国人实际上被国家拘留，但出于某些法律目的，他们被视为被联邦政府拘留，”司法部的一名律师在本月早些时候的一份法庭文件中写道。
根据洛杉机洛约拉法学院教授H. Marissa Montes的说法，鳄鱼阿卡特兹使用的模式允许联邦政府将拘留设施外包给渴望的州和私人承包商。虽然联邦政府长期依赖县监狱营利性监狱公司为了关押被拘留者，像“鳄鱼阿卡特兹”这样的设施扩大了各州参与联邦移民程序的规模，蒙特斯说。
议员们在信中写道，“鉴于DHS正直接与佛罗里达州政府合作建设一座具有惊人影响的拘留设施，DHS应该确保该设施融资运作的透明度和问责制。”。
特朗普发誓要实施最大规模驱逐出境据经营罗耀拉移民司法诊所的蒙特斯说，在美国历史上，使用“鳄鱼阿卡特兹”这样的设施有助于产生鼓励自我驱逐的威慑效果。
“我们有越来越多的人来寻求自我驱逐，因为他们宁愿以一种有尊严的方式自我驱逐，而不是在联邦政府的手中，”蒙特斯说。
Democratic lawmakers demand information about 'Alligator Alcatraz'
A group of Senate and House Democrats is pushing officials at the Department of Homeland Security for more information about the use of the immigration detention facility in the Florida Everglades known as "Alligator Alcatraz."
In a letter sent late Tuesday to the heads of the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and FEMA, the lawmakers expressed concern that the Trump administration's decision to use what lawmakers called a "novel state-run immigration detention model" could violate federal law and make the federal government less accountable for the conditions at immigrant detention centers.
The letter comes as the Trump administration has embraced the model of usingstate-run facilities-- as opposed to federal or private ones -- to detain noncitizens during immigration proceedings, including using a shuttered state prison as an additional site in Florida, dubbed "Deportation Depot," and expanding ICE detention space in an Indiana correctional facility dubbed the "Speedway Slammer" and in a Nebraska facility to be called "Cornhusker Clink."
"Experts worry this novel state-run immigration detention model will allow Florida to create an 'independent, unaccountable detention system' that runs parallel to the federal detention system," the group of eight senators and 57 representatives wrote.
The "Alligator Alcatraz" detention facility has been the subject of intensepolitical and legal scrutinysince it was rapidly constructed on the site of a rarely used airstrip in the Florida Everglades in June. The temporary detention center -- which currently can house 3,000 migrants awaiting deportation -- was toured by President Donald Trump and DHS Secretary Kristi Noem in early July.
"They have a lot of bodyguards and a lot of cops that are in the form of alligators. You don't have to pay them so much." Trump said while touring the facility. "I wouldn't want to run through the Everglades for long."
In the letter, spearheaded by Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley and Florida Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the lawmakers asked the Department of Homeland Security to provide more information about the facility by Sept. 3. They asked the Trump administration to identify the legal authority that allows Florida to run the facility, confirm the facility meets federal standards for the treatment of detainees, and outline the criteria used by DHS to reimburse Florida for the facility.
"Brushing aside concerns from human rights watchdogs, environmentalist groups, and Tribal nations, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has greenlit the construction of this expansive detention facility that may violate detained individuals' human rights, jeopardize public and environmental health, and violate federal law. We ask that DHS promptly provide critical information for the American public to better understand this detention plan," the Democratic lawmakers wrote.
The lawmakers also requested additional information about legal access for detainees at the facility and the environmental impact of the site -- issues that have been at the center of two federal lawsuits challenging the facility. A federal judge has temporarily paused further construction at the site over environmental concerns, and a lawsuit over legal access waspartially dismissedafter the Trump administration established a nearby immigration court to handle issues stemming from Alligator Alcatraz.
A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the letter. Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin has previously said the facility complies with federal detention standards.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has lauded "Alligator Alcatraz" as an efficient way for Florida to work with the Trump administration to carry out deportations, and has encouraged other states to do the same.
"I know that the administration has called on other states to follow suit and expand this type of capacity, and I would just reiterate that call. I think it's important. I think it will make a difference," DeSantis said at a press conference at the site in July. "The whole purpose is to make this be a place that can facilitate increased frequency and numbers of deportations of illegal aliens."
Since "Alligator Alcatraz" opened in July, immigration advocates have been pushing for more information about the facility, arguing that the custodial and operational details were initially kept murky to prevent oversight. According to documents released in an ongoing lawsuit challenging the facility, the Florida Division of Emergency Management and Florida State Guard -- along with private contractors -- are running the site under a 287(g) agreement with the federal government.
"While the aliens are in the physical custody of the State, they are for certain legal purposes treated as in the custody of the federal government," an attorney with the Department of Justice wrote in a court filing earlier this month.
According to H. Marissa Montes, a professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, the model used by Alligator Alcatraz allows the federal government to outsource detention facilities to eager states and private contractors. While the federal government has long relied on county jails andfor-profit prison companiesto house detainees, facilities like "Alligator Alcatraz" expand the scale of individual states' involvement in federal immigration proceedings, Montes said.
"Given that DHS is working directly with the Florida state government on a detention facility with alarming implications, DHS should ensure transparency and accountability surrounding the facility's financing operations," the lawmakers wrote in their letter.
With Trump vowing to carry out thelargest deportationin U.S. history, the use of facilities like "Alligator Alcatraz" contributes to a deterrent effect that encourages self-deportation, according to Montes, who runs Loyola's Immigrant Justice Clinic.
"We've got an increased number of people who come in seeking to self-deport because they'd rather self-deport in a way that's dignified, right, than at the hands of the federal government," Montes said.
