Some attorneys complain their clients are being targeted simply for being Hispanic and for trying to work. “I’m seeing all kinds of incidents where people are getting asked for their identification when there is absolutely no crime being committed and no investigation of any crime,” said immigration attorney Amanda Velazquez, “just pulling people over and or walking up to people going to and from work.”
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Without legal rights, according to attorney Katie Blankenship, detainees are “for all intents and purposes, disappeared.”
If the airstrip near Alligator Alcatraz is rebuilt, lawyers add, authorities might fast-track deportations, thereby preventing detainees from filing appeals. “Those small amounts of bureaucracy are checks and balances to make sure that the government is deporting the right people to the right place,” said attorney Chelsea Nowel. “It ensures due process.”
Catholic Bishop: Alligator Alcatraz Is ‘An Evil’
Bishop Frank Dewane, whose Catholic Diocese of Venice is located near Alligator Alcatraz, also addressed conditions at the facility. Speaking to The Pillar, the bishop raised concerns about isolation, reports of flooding, and what he called undignified treatment.
“When we have to…advertise the fact that there are pythons and alligators out there guarding [the facility], this kind of language creates a hype that I think no human being really deserves,” said Dewane. “We have to look at decency and understand that yes, these individuals may have violated a law, but they are not serious criminals.”
The bishop, who worked in the Soviet Union before attending seminary, said he sees similarities between conditions there and in America. “I thought that we could rise above things of that nature,” Dewane said, “but we have allowed it to happen. I do not know if it’s greed or what, but we have allowed [it] to kind of trap us.”
Although church officials are ready to minister to detainees, Dewane said, authorities aren’t responding to calls about how to proceed. Many detainees are from Catholic backgrounds, the bishop noted, “so we do have a concern to help make sure their needs are being met—and we know they’re not, because we can’t, at this point, even get in.”
To address America’s immigration crisis, Dewane said, “Serious reform is necessary to preserve safety and integrity of our borders and respect for individuals.” Regarding the church’s role, the bishop said leaders must “preach respect” and pray for peace and justice that “recognizes human dignity.”
