Latest news with #KevinGuthrie
The Independent
5 days ago
- Politics
- The Independent
Florida lawmakers who were denied access to 'Alligator Alcatraz' sue DeSantis
Five state lawmakers who were denied access to a new immigration detention center built by Gov. Ron DeSantis' administration in the Florida Everglades have sued the governor, arguing that he overstepped his authority in blocking legislative oversight of the facility known as 'Alligator Alcatraz.' Thursday's filing with the state Supreme Court is the most significant action yet by state officials seeking to challenge the DeSantis administration's decision to construct and operate the 3,000-bed makeshift detention center at an isolated airstrip surrounded by swampland. The lawmakers argue that DeSantis and Kevin Guthrie, the director of Florida's emergency management division, unlawfully restricted the Legislature's independence as a co-equal branch of government in denying them access to the facility on July 3. 'The DeSantis Administration's refusal to let us in wasn't some bureaucratic misstep. It was a deliberate obstruction meant to hide what's really happening behind those gates," the lawmakers said in a joint statement. 'There is no statute that permits the Governor to overrule the Legislature's oversight authority. This lawsuit is about defending the rule of law, protecting vulnerable people inside that facility, and stopping the normalization of executive overreach.' Since blocking the five Democratic lawmakers from entering the center earlier this month, state officials have invited Florida legislators and members of Congress to visit the site this coming Saturday. The plaintiffs said they expect the tour to be a 'tightly controlled walkthrough' that doesn't meet their standard of 'real oversight.' A representative for DeSantis called the lawsuit 'frivolous.' 'The State is looking forward to quickly dispensing with this dumb lawsuit,' said spokesperson Molly Best. A message seeking comment about the response from the governor's office was left with a spokesperson for the plaintiffs. State officials raced to build the facility in a matter of days at a remote airfield in the protected wetlands about 45 miles (72 kilometers) west of downtown Miami, outraging environmentalists and human rights advocates. DeSantis' administration built the multimillion-dollar center using emergency powers under an executive order the governor issued during the administration of then-President Joe Biden. It was signed amid what DeSantis deemed a crisis caused by illegal immigration. That emergency authority has allowed the state to sidestep purchasing requirements and seize land for the site from Miami-Dade County, over the objections of local officials. The governor has touted the facility as a model to be replicated as the state works to aggressively carry out President Donald Trump 's mass deportation agenda. 'Governor DeSantis has insisted that the state of Florida, under his leadership, will facilitate the federal government in enforcing immigration law,' a DeSantis spokesperson said in a previous statement. 'Florida will continue to lead on immigration enforcement.'
Associated Press
5 days ago
- Politics
- Associated Press
Florida lawmakers who were denied access to 'Alligator Alcatraz' sue DeSantis
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Five state lawmakers who were denied access to a new immigration detention center built by Gov. Ron DeSantis' administration in the Florida Everglades have sued the governor, arguing that he overstepped his authority in blocking legislative oversight of the facility known as 'Alligator Alcatraz.' Thursday's filing with the state Supreme Court is the most significant action yet by state officials seeking to challenge the DeSantis administration's decision to construct and operate the 3,000-bed makeshift detention center at an isolated airstrip surrounded by swampland. The lawmakers argue that DeSantis and Kevin Guthrie, the director of Florida's emergency management division, unlawfully restricted the Legislature's independence as a co-equal branch of government in denying them access to the facility on July 3. 'The DeSantis Administration's refusal to let us in wasn't some bureaucratic misstep. It was a deliberate obstruction meant to hide what's really happening behind those gates,' the lawmakers said in a joint statement. 'There is no statute that permits the Governor to overrule the Legislature's oversight authority. This lawsuit is about defending the rule of law, protecting vulnerable people inside that facility, and stopping the normalization of executive overreach.' Since blocking the five Democratic lawmakers from entering the center earlier this month, state officials have invited Florida legislators and members of Congress to visit the site this coming Saturday. The plaintiffs said they expect the tour to be a 'tightly controlled walkthrough' that doesn't meet their standard of 'real oversight.' A representative for DeSantis called the lawsuit 'frivolous.' 'The State is looking forward to quickly dispensing with this dumb lawsuit,' said spokesperson Molly Best. A message seeking comment about the response from the governor's office was left with a spokesperson for the plaintiffs. State officials raced to build the facility in a matter of days at a remote airfield in the protected wetlands about 45 miles (72 kilometers) west of downtown Miami, outraging environmentalists and human rights advocates. DeSantis' administration built the multimillion-dollar center using emergency powers under an executive order the governor issued during the administration of then-President Joe Biden. It was signed amid what DeSantis deemed a crisis caused by illegal immigration. That emergency authority has allowed the state to sidestep purchasing requirements and seize land for the site from Miami-Dade County, over the objections of local officials. The governor has touted the facility as a model to be replicated as the state works to aggressively carry out President Donald Trump's mass deportation agenda. 'Governor DeSantis has insisted that the state of Florida, under his leadership, will facilitate the federal government in enforcing immigration law,' a DeSantis spokesperson said in a previous statement. 'Florida will continue to lead on immigration enforcement.' ___ Kate Payne is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
Miami Herald
6 days ago
- Politics
- Miami Herald
Highway ads against ‘Alligator Alcatraz' went dark for a day. Who is to blame?
Digital billboards opposing Florida's 'Alligator Alcatraz' debuted this week on two highways outside Miami — but the campaign didn't last long before a complaint prompted an outdoor advertising company to remove the messages that were paid for by an immigrant-rights group. By Wednesday morning, the ads were live again. The source of the complaint remains in dispute. Thomas Kennedy, who placed the digital ads for the Florida Immigrant Coalition, said a sales representative for Outfront Media identified Kevin Guthrie, the governor's emergency management director, as the source of a complaint that caused a pause in the display of digital ads that went up Monday on Interstate 95 and State Road 836. The media office for Florida's Division of Emergency Management denied Kennedy's claim, which he first made in a social media post. 'This is false,' Stephanie Hartman, deputy director of communications for the agency, said in an email to the Miami Herald. Hartman had not responded to follow-up questions from the Herald as of late Wednesday afternoon. Representatives of Outfront were not available for comment Wednesday. The Herald reviewed text messages from Kennedy showing an exchange with an Outfront sales executive that matches what Kennedy said the company told him. 'My manager had them taken down until we have approval. It should be back up tmrw morning if approved,' the sales executive wrote in a message Kennedy said he received Tuesday afternoon. 'Kevin Guthrie the executive director of Florida Division of Emergency Management is who reached out.' The Herald was unable to interview the sales representative, and it's not known if the representative had direct knowledge of the source of the complaint, including whether the complaint came directly to Outfront or if it was relayed by another organization or individual. The ads target Miami-Dade County's Democratic mayor, Daniella Levine Cava, with criticism that she isn't fighting the Florida detention facility, which was built on a county-owned airfield in the Everglades. Last month, Guthrie invoked the governor's authority to seize the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport from Miami-Dade, saying it was needed to address the ongoing state of emergency over immigration that DeSantis declared in 2023 while Joe Biden was president. While Levine Cava has criticized the state facility, she hasn't taken action to retake the land or block construction. The Florida Immigrant Coalition ads urge the public to call the mayor's office and demand opposition. 'Tell Mayor Daniella Levine Cava and County Officials. Sue to stop the Everglades Detention Camp,' the ads read. Kennedy said he heard from the Outfront representative Tuesday that there was a complaint that the ads contain inaccurate information. The ads, he said, came off the rotation for Outfront digital billboards that afternoon as the company researched the complaint. By Wednesday morning, the ads resumed. 'They were wonderful,' Kennedy said of Outfront. 'No complaints at all.' Last year, the DeSantis administration threatened television stations with criminal charges over political ads supporting an abortion-rights ballot item the governor opposed. The state Department of Health claimed the ads broadcast harmful information to expectant mothers. A federal judge sided with the advocacy group airing the ads and supporting the item, which failed in the November elections. While Kennedy said he didn't fault Outfront for how it handled the alleged state complaint about his group's ads, he said the events represent an attack on political speech. 'It's outrageous,' he said.
Bloomberg
01-07-2025
- Politics
- Bloomberg
Alligator Alcatraz Shows Florida's ‘Full Throttle' Embrace of Mass Arrests
On June 20, nearly three weeks into the Atlantic hurricane season, Florida disaster-management officials assembled a group of emergency relief contractors in Tallahassee and asked them to do something they had never done before. Governor Ron DeSantis wanted to construct a camp in the Everglades that could hold thousands of immigrants detained in President Donald Trump's deportation campaign. To get it built fast, Kevin Guthrie, the head of the state's emergency-management division, asked the firms to start moving tents, trailers and toilets onto an abandoned airstrip near Miami within days.
Yahoo
31-05-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
As Trump cuts FEMA, Florida says it will take care of residents
On the eve of hurricane season, Florida's top disaster official promised Floridians that they will see no changes to the state's hurricane response despite the turmoil at FEMA over staff cuts and proposed slashes to state disaster aid. Kevin Guthrie, the executive director of Florida's Division of Emergency Management, said it's not about money. Even if FEMA cuts the amount of cash it pays out to a state after a disaster, he stressed that state leaders 'have never, ever made decisions based on whether we're going to get reimbursed by the federal government.' 'You go out to protect life, safety. You go out to stabilize scenes. You go out to protect the environment. That is what we have been doing for decades inside Florida,' he said. 'That's what we're going to continue to do for the coming decades ahead.' READ MORE: Florida says it's ready for hurricane season, with or without FEMA's help Florida was smacked with two devastating storms last year, and forecasters say the upcoming hurricane season, which starts June 1, is set to be another active season. Greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise, raising global temperatures that in turn lead to stronger, wetter and more deadly hurricanes. At a press conference Saturday in Fort Lauderdale, Guthrie said the state was fully prepared for the season — even if FEMA might not be. The agency is down more than 2,000 employees and a dozen senior leaders this year, as President Donald Trump pushes his new vision for the beleaguered agency. Part of that change involves shifting more responsibility — and costs — for disaster cleanup to the states. Already, FEMA has begun to act on that mission. Last week, the agency denied North Carolina's request to keep covering the entire tab for Hurricane Helene recovery. Instead, FEMA will continue helping with 75% of the costs, the bare minimum required. And yet, Guthrie said, Florida is prepared to accept the president's new vision for the agency, with the federal government still picking up the tab. It's unclear if Florida's annual budget includes more cash for storm recovery, as the legislature and governor have not yet agreed on one. Gov. Ron DeSantis asked Guthrie, as a member of the federal FEMA review council, to push FEMA to shift more of its state assistance to block grants that states like Florida can spend directly. Guthrie said the state is even considering preparing for the 'challenge' of directly giving cash to survivors after a disaster, a FEMA program known as individual assistance. 'We are already having these conversations about if the federal government allows us to run an individual assistance program, we're ready to get that done,' he said. 'We believe we can do it just as fast, if not faster than the federal government.'
