Suing 'Alligator Alcatraz': Immigration in the US

The Documentary Podcast

BBC

Society & Culture, Documentary

4.3 • 2.6K Ratings

🗓️ 26 August 2025

⏱️ 27 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

President Trump has called illegal immigration an “invasion” and what has followed is a huge rise in the arrest and detention of migrants. Some have ended up in ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ - an immigration detention centre that was speedily constructed in June, deep in the Florida swampland. ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ is now subject to a number of lawsuits. Immigration attorneys say they have not been granted proper access to clients inside; environmentalists claim the detention centre is harming the protected wetlands that surround it. Within the last few days, a judge has ruled that much of the detention centre must be dismantled and no new migrants taken there. It is a preliminary ruling and the government immediately filed an appeal. Josephine Casserly follows immigration lawyer Mich Gonzalez as he attempts to meet his client inside the detention centre. This episode of The Documentary comes to you from Assignment, investigations and journeys into the heart of global events.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Ah, okay, okay, I think we're here.
0:03.9	So there's a big slow-down congestion sign.
0:06.5	And there's an alligator Alcatraz sign.
0:11.1	I'm in the car with immigration lawyer Mitch Gonzalez.
0:14.1	It's July and we're driving to Alligator Alcatraz,
0:17.4	a new immigration detention center deep in Florida's swamp land.
0:21.5	So what time is the appointment?
0:23.4	I may be said after 8.30 and it's 18 now.
0:27.4	So we're back on time.
0:29.9	Early.
0:30.5	We're early, yes.
0:31.4	We're early.
0:31.9	Let's see what happens.
0:33.3	This is a documentary for the BBC World Service.
0:36.2	I'm Josephine Cassilyie on assignment in Florida,
0:39.4	where this controversial new centre, with a foreboding name, has become a lightning rod for fierce
0:44.9	debates around immigration in the US. I assume we're going to get stopped quite soon, I would imagine.
0:52.2	There's a truck up in front of us with blue flashing lights.
0:56.5	We're accompanying Mitch as he tries to make a visit to his client, Michael, who's being held inside.
1:02.8	Mitch is slight with dark curly hair and tattoos peeking out from under his shirt sleeves.
1:08.8	He describes himself as a movement or activist lawyer,
1:12.4	and he has this frenetic energy fueled by adrenaline and Cuban espresso.
	...

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