PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. — Transparency concerns continue to rise regarding one of the nation's most criticized detention centers, known as Alligator Alcatraz.
WPTV has learned that despite promises of improved access to legal representation from Florida's Director of Emergency Management, many detainees are still effectively unreachable.
WATCH BELOW: 'They're nowhere to be found,' immigration attorney Maribel Piza tells Chief Investigative Reporter Jamie Ostroff
To facilitate visits with clients in immigration custody, lawyers typically begin by checking the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) online detainee locator system.
However, Maribel Piza, an immigration attorney in West Palm Beach, said clients held in Alligator Alcatraz are notably absent from this locator, raising significant alarm about their status and accessibility.
“There’s a lot of families that are going through this,” said a woman whose husband has been detained at the facility for a full month, as of Thursday. She requested anonymity due to fears of retaliation from immigration officials. She reports that his health is declining, citing incidents of receiving rotten food and complaints about contaminated water.
She expressed her frustration, stating that the ordeal has influenced them to consider the voluntary deportation process and having her husband returned to his native Guatemala.
“What’s important is that he’s out of there, because we don’t want to see him in that place anymore,” she said.
"My clients have told me that [officials at Alligator Alcatraz] tell you, 'You don't have to stay here. You can leave tomorrow if you want. All you have to do is sign a few documents and you're going to get out of here immediately,'" said Piza, who attempted to help the Guatemalan detainee and his wife, but was unable to begin any legal proceedings.
"There is a standard DHS detainee locator system," Piza explained. "They don't appear in that system. They're nowhere to be found.”
As a result, Piza said she can't file legal paperwork on behalf of her clients.
“I can't file anything,” she explained, “because no one wants to say, ‘Oh, send it to me. I know [your client] is here.’"
Piza said she has four clients that she knows are in Alligator Alcatraz. When asked about her access to those clients, she replied, "Well, zero, nil, nothing. Not unless my client calls me.”
She noted that phone conversations are monitored, which is typical in a detention setting, but complicates her ability to advise her clients effectively.
Florida Department of Emergency Management Director Kevin Guthrie told reporters on July 25 that on-site legal representation would begin shortly.
The following week, one of Piza's clients contacted her with an email address provided to him, which she was advised to use to request visitation: legal@privacy6.com.
“When my client gave it to me, I was like, no. That can't be right,” she said.
Piza said she used the email address to request visits with her clients last week, but has not received a response.
ICE does not operate Alligator Alcatraz; oversight falls to the Florida Department of Emergency Management, which says in court filings it was granted authority by the federal government to run the facility.
WPTV reached out to FDEM via email, with questions about the accessibility of attorney-client visits and the missing information in the detainee locator system. FDEM has not yet responded.
Meanwhile, a federal lawsuit is in progress on behalf of detainees at Alligator Alcatraz. The action is aimed at securing better legal access for those in custody there, arguing that the practices at Alligator Alcatraz violate the detainees' due process rights under the Fifth Amendment, as well as the attorneys' First Amendment rights to speak with their clients.
In a legal filing Thursday, attorneys for the state argued that no constitutional rights were being violated at Alligator Alcatraz. Despite acknowledging initial delays in its system to arrange attorney-client visits due to "the inherent logistical struggles of standing up a temporary detention center to house thousands of detainees," the state argued detainees have had access to their lawyers.
"More meetings are taking place every day and there have been no complaints," the filing said. "In fact, since the meetings began on July 15th, the State Defendants have granted every single request for a detainee to meet with legal counsel."
Piza said she remains hopeful that she'll receive a response to her requests to see her clients.
“I don't give up the fight, and I certainly don't give up hope,” she said.