'ALLIGATOR ALCATRAZ' ON ROCKS

THE COURTS MAY DEAL A DEATH BLOW TO A MIGRANT DETENTION CENTRE IN THE FLORIDA EVERGLADES KNOWN FOR ITS BRUTAL CONDITIONS

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Critics of “Alligator Alcatraz,” a remote migrant detention centre in the Florida Everglades, are hoping a second court decision will deal a death blow to the facility, known for its brutal conditions.

A federal judge on Thursday barred President Donald Trump's administration and the state of Florida from bringing new detainees to centre. US District Judge Kathleen Williams also ordered the dismantling of some aspects of the facility as current detainees are moved out, said a court filing in the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

The judge sided with environmental groups who had said the facility is endangering the Everglades and its wildlife. The lawsuit is one of two filed against the centre. The other, which opponents hope will result in the centre being scrapped altogether, claims that migrants’ right to due process is not being respected.

Activists and lawyers are demanding closure of the facilities, where they say migrants are kept in inhumane conditions. Earlier, AFP reported that for many inmates at the centre, time has no discernible meaning. Prisoners are barely able to see sunlight in the windowless space, living under fluorescent lamps that are always on, with no clocks or anything else by which they might mark the days.