A federal court in Miami opened hearings Monday on whether hundreds of migrants housed at the temporary detention site known as “Alligator Alcatraz” are being deprived of their constitutional right to legal representation. The makeshift camp, erected on an isolated airstrip in the Everglades, began receiving detainees in early July. Civil-rights lawyers led by the American Civil Liberties Union asked U.S. District Judge Rodolfo Ruiz for a preliminary injunction that would guarantee confidential attorney-client meetings and assign an immigration court to handle bond and release petitions. They allege detainees are restricted to brief, recorded calls, that officers pressure them to sign voluntary removal orders, and that immigration judges routinely cancel hearings for lack of jurisdiction. Florida officials dispute the claims, saying every legal-access request has been honored since videoconferencing started on 15 July and that in-person visits have been permitted since 28 July. The state also argues the lawsuit was filed in the wrong federal district because the facility sits in Collier County, not Miami-Dade. Judge Ruiz indicated he will decide the venue issue before ruling on the injunction. The legal-access case unfolds alongside a separate environmental challenge in which U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams on 7 August paused additional construction at the camp for 14 days; her decision on a longer-term halt is expected this week. Governor Ron DeSantis, defending the Everglades site, last week announced plans for a second 1,300-bed detention center, dubbed “Deportation Depot,” at a state prison in north Florida.