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Government blames clerical error for 'Alligator Alcatraz' complaints

WPTV's Chief Investigative Reporter Jamie Ostroff digs into the documents and speaks with immigration attorneys who say constitutional rights are still being violated despite facility policy changes
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New court documents filed in defense of the state of Florida and federal government suggest that constitutional complaints against Florida's controversial immigration detention facility known as "Alligator Alcatraz" stem from a clerical error in facility policies, which has since been corrected.

WATCH BELOW: 'We need to really start getting this to work properly,' attorney Nicolas Aguado tells WPTV

New court documents reveal government's defense in 'Alligator Alcatraz' lawsuit

For months, immigration attorneys have complained in court declarations and in interviews with WPTV about challenges meeting with detainees at the facility located in the middle of the Everglades. The ongoing civil rights lawsuit against the state of Florida and federal government alleges that First Amendment rights of immigration attorneys and their clients are being violated because they cannot meet in a timely and confidential manner.

Attorneys, like Anna Weiser, have previously pointed to a detrimental three-day waiting period between requesting a client visit and receiving one.

"There's a very detailed form, unlike at some you know, most other facilities, that needs to be filled out, they also have to review every legal document that we intend to bring into the visitation room," Weiser told WPTV in August. "As soon as that visit has been confirmed and scheduled... in about a couple of days, the client gets moved out."

A 66-page declaration from Mark Saunders, vice president of The Nakamoto Group, Inc., the private company that helps operate Alligator Alcatraz, seeks to discredit those complaints. Saunders claims many complaints come from "prior versions of the visitation and mail policy (that) incorrectly represented that attorneys must submit the documents required to schedule a visit at least three business days before a visit is scheduled."

Saunders included a copy of the current policy, which he says contains the correct language.

Nicolas Aguado, an immigration attorney who has had clients in Alligator Alcatraz, acknowledged some improvements have been made since the facility opened over the summer.

"I do believe that every single day is an opportunity to get better," Aguado said. "Yes. It has improved. It has improved. Anybody saying otherwise, I believe would you know, not be to the truth. The problem is, is that enough?"

Emails from Aguado's law firm were included in Saunders' declaration as evidence that attorney-client visits are being arranged without a three-day waiting period. However, the emails from early September still show the facility asking Aguado's assistant to fill out a visitation request form.

Saunders said the request form was part of language included in the previous visitation policy as a mistake, along with the direction to "attach copies of legal documents you tend to bring for approval. All items are subject to inspection and must be pre-approved."

"I think excuses are excuses," Aguado said. "We need to really get on and properly, start getting this to work properly."

As far as Aguado is concerned, things still are not working properly.

"They do hinder the due process and the ability to render legal advice to our clients, and it does affect the fact that there are many clients that I simply now won't take, because I can't effectively represent them in that Alligator Alcatraz situation," Aguado said.

Regarding allegations that clients were deliberately getting moved out of Alligator Alcatraz before their scheduled meetings, Saunders wrote that transfers are at the sole discretion of federal authorities, which do not operate the facility.

This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.

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