Free Republic

A federal judge has denied the federal government’s request to delay the significant dismantling of the South Florida detention facility—also known as Alligator Alcatraz—at the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport. In a previous order, the judge had halted the transfer of detainees to the center, stopped new construction, and ordered the removal of some aspects of the facility. U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida released her decision on Aug. 27, after attorneys for the Department of Homeland Security and the Florida Division of Emergency Management submitted a motion to stay her...

Last week a judge in Miami ordered the shut down of the detention site known as Alligator Alcatraz. U.S. District Judge Kathleen M. Williams entered a preliminary injunction to prevent the installation of any additional industrial-style lighting and any site expansion. Her ruling further prevents “bringing any additional persons ... who were not already being detained at the site at the time of this order.”...Within 60 days, “and once the population attrition allows for safe implementation of this Order,” the facility must also remove “all generators, gas, sewage, and other waste and waste receptacles that were installed to support this...

An Obama judge issued an injunction on Thursday ordering Florida not only to halt the arrival of new detainees to Alligator Alcatraz but to begin dismantling the facility. The Sunshine State isn't rolling over, and Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis' office indicated that President Donald Trump's deportation campaign will continue as planned. Quick background After DeSantis tasked state leaders with identifying places for a new detention facility to temporarily house outbound criminal noncitizens, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier made a public pitch in favor of "Alligator Alcatraz" — "an old, virtually abandoned airport facility" in the Everglades that could serve as...

The rogue judicial branch continues to overstep its bounds. In the latest example yet, a federal judge just ordered the effective shutdown of Florida’s Alligator Alcatraz detention facility. Judge Kathleen Williams, an Obama appointee, ruled that no new illegal alien detainees can be brought in to Alligator Alcatraz. In addition, she has barred further construction and given orders for many parts of the facility to be dismantled within 60 days. Here are the details: JUST IN: A federal judge has barred the Trump admin and FL from bringing new detainees into “Alligator Alcatraz” and to dismantle some aspects of the...

… U.S. District Judge Kathleen M. Williams entered a preliminary injunction to prevent the installation of any additional industrial-style lighting and any site expansion. Her ruling further prevents “bringing any additional persons ... who were not already being detained at the site at the time of this order.”…. The ruling was filed late Thursday, allowing the injunction that was requested over National Environmental Policy Act violations. Within 60 days, the facility must also remove “all generators, gas, sewage, and other waste and waste receptacles that were installed to support this project,” the 82-page ruling said. It must also remove additional...

On Thursday evening, US District Judge Kathleen Williams, an Obama appointee, barred the Trump Administration from bringing new illegal alien detainees to Alligator Alcatraz. She also ordered the facility to be dismantled within 60 days. Alligator Alcatraz is a detention center for illegal aliens, many of whom are rapists, murderers, and designated foreign terrorists. ..... Snip..... On Thursday, Judge Williams issued a preliminary injunction barring the Trump Administration from bringing new illegal aliens to Alligator Alcatraz and ordered the facility to be dismantled. “The Court ENTERS a Preliminary Injunction prohibiting the State and Federal Defendants and their officers, agents, employees,...

MIAMI (AP) — A federal judge on Thursday ordered a temporary halt to construction at an immigration detention center — built in the middle of the Florida Everglades and dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz” — as attorneys argue whether it violates environmental laws. The facility can continue to operate and hold detainees for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, but workers will be barred from adding any new filling, paving or infrastructure for the next 14 days. U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams issued the ruling during a hearing and said she will issue a written order later Thursday. Environmental groups and the Miccosukee...

The US Supreme Court on Wednesday denied Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier’s request for relief from an Obama-appointed judge’s order blocking enforcement of the state’s anti-illegal immigration laws. Last month, a federal judge held Florida’s Attorney General in contempt of court for enforcing the state’s immigration laws. Uthmeier previously told the corrupt Obama judge that he will not order state authorities to halt enforcement of immigration law. US District Judge Kathleen Williams, an Obama appointee, issued an injunction claiming Florida’s (state) law violates the Supremacy Clause in the Constitution in response to a lawsuit filed by the anti-American ACLU.

For the first time in recent history, a federal judge on Tuesday found Florida’s attorney general in contempt of court for referring to the court’s order blocking a new state immigration law as illegitimate and unlawful. While U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams’ ruling is extraordinary, she spared James Uthmeier from paying hefty fines or spending time in jail. Instead, Williams ordered the state’s chief legal officer to submit biweekly reports to ensure police don’t arrest anyone under an immigration law she blocked in April. “Litigants cannot change the plain meaning of words as it suits them, especially when conveying a...

Obama-appointed Judge Kathleen M. Williams of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida holds Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier in contempt of court over enforcing Florida's anti-illegal immigration laws, cooperating with the Trump admin Uthmeier had said that a prior order from the judge did not apply to law enforcement on halting immigration actions because they were not party to the case.

The attorney general is asking an appellate court to lift the block on a new state immigration law. The law makes it a misdemeanor for adults who came to the U.S. illegally by eluding or avoiding examination or inspection by immigration officers to enter Florida. The governor and Uthmeier contend that the judge in the case has gone beyond her boundaries in calling on Florida law enforcement agencies to stop making immigration arrests. “She’s trying to exercise authority that she does not possess. Fine,” DeSantis said. “There’s parties to the case and she’s rendered a decision even though it’s a...

A judge ruled on Sunday that Norwegian Cruise Line is permitted to ask customers to show proof of vaccination before boarding a ship, dealing a blow to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s (R) law that prevented "vaccine passports" from being utilized in the state. The nearly 60-page preliminary ruling from U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams in the Southern District of Florida said that the state law barring the use of vaccine passports is likely unconstitutional under the First Amendment and jeopardizes public health. The judge ruled that Florida Surgeon General Scott Rivkees, whom Norwegian filed a lawsuit against over the vaccine...

U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams granted Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings a preliminary injunction on Sunday evening challenging Gov. Ron DeSantis' statewide ban for businesses to require vaccines before engaging in certain activities. In the ruling, she wrote that Florida failed to "provide a valid evidentiary, factual, or legal predicate" for the ban, documents obtained by Politico show. The order allows the company to operate with 100% vaccinations or the requirement of all guests and crew to be vaccinated when sailing from Florida ports. The company will not be subject to $5,000 fines for every violation of the Republican governor's order,...

Sunday, the judge said Florida failed to “provide a valid evidentiary, factual, or legal predicate” for banning requirements that passengers prove they’ve been vaccinated. Norwegian has shown that suspending the requirement will jeopardize public health, potentially causing “super-spreader” events wherever passengers disembark, she wrote. Florida separately sued the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention seeking to block federal cruise ship vaccination requirements. The CDC lost on appeal, but then made its guidelines non-binding, and all cruise lines operating in Florida have agreed to keep following the CDC’s instructions on a voluntary basis, the judge wrote.

The Supreme Court's decision in DHS v. Regents of the University of California will likely decide the face of the DACA program and that opinion is expected in weeks. If you have read an article on DACA recently, it is likely that it was a one-dimensional piece featuring some DACA recipient working in healthcare who is facing a loss of employment. At the same time, you would have more luck looking for a unicorn than you would looking for an article in the nation's elite media that analyzes the legal issues before the Supreme Court or makes any mention of...