Federal Appeals Court Rules Alligator Alcatraz May Stay Open
The ruling came Thursday, halting a Miami judge's ruling to break down the Everglades immigration center. Also: U.S. Rep. Yassamin Ansari (D-Ariz.) is fighting to release a woman with cancer from immigration detention; fear of deportation is putting health and hunger at risk; and more.
The Washington Post:
Migrant Detainees May Remain At Alligator Alcatraz, Appeals Court Rules
A federal appeals court on Thursday put on hold a Miami judge’s order to dismantle the immigrant detention center in the Everglades, even as Florida officials said operations were winding down. Environmentalists and the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians sued the state and federal governments for failing to conduct what they say is a required environmental study before commandeering the 39-acre site under the National Environmental Policy Act, known as NEPA. The Florida Division of Emergency Management led the project to erect tents for detainees in chain-link cages, and also to bring in portable air conditioners, lighting, and housing for 1,000 staff. The site has no electricity or plumbing, so drinking and bathing water must be trucked in daily, and waste and sewage trucked out. (Rozsa, 9/4)
KTAR:
Detained Woman With Cancer Should Be Free, U.S. Rep. Ansari Says
U.S. Rep. Yassamin Ansari (D-Ariz.) is demanding immediate medical care for an Arizona woman with cancer who was detained at the Eloy Detention Center. The Democrat held a press conference at the U.S. Capitol to advocate on behalf of Arbella “Yari” Rodríguez Márquez, who has leukemia, on Thursday. “Yari was diagnosed with cancer over 10 years ago and has not been able to see a specialist since she was detained in February,” Ansari said during the event. (O'Sullivan, 9/4)
New York Focus:
New York Immigrants Weigh Health and Hunger Against Deportation Risk
For years, Susanna Saul has been reassuring some of her clients that it’s safe to apply for public benefits, even if they’re not citizens. Now, she isn’t sure what to say. Saul directs legal programs at Her Justice, a Manhattan-based nonprofit that provides free legal assistance to impoverished women and their children. Its clients include victims of trafficking and domestic violence who, unlike most undocumented people, are eligible for Medicaid under decades-old federal exceptions. (Zou, 9/3)
How Supreme Court justices feel about recent rulings —
Politico:
Amy Coney Barrett: Reports Of A Constitutional Crisis Have Been Greatly Exaggerated
Is the country in a constitutional crisis? Not according to Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett. “Look, I think the Constitution is alive and well,” Barrett said Thursday at an event to promote her new book, Listening to the Law. She cast aside concerns by legal scholars over the ongoing clash between the Trump administration and the courts. “I don’t know what a constitutional crisis would look like,” Barrett, who was appointed by Trump in 2020, added. “I think that our country remains committed to the rule of law. I think we have functioning courts. I think a constitutional crisis — we would clearly be in one if the rule of law crumbles. But that is not the place where we are.” (Oorden, 9/4)
The New York Times:
Kavanaugh Acknowledges ‘Difficult Job’ Of His Lower-Court Colleagues
Speaking at a judicial conference in Memphis, Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh expressed sympathy for the district-court judges whose rulings the Supreme Court has repeatedly paused. He called trial-court judges “the front lines of American justice” and thanked them for helping to “preserve and protect the Constitution and the rule of law of the United States.” (Schwartz, 9/4)
