Thomas Kennedy
@tomaskenn
Policy at Florida Immigrant Coalition. From 🇦🇷. Instagram/Bluesky: @tomaskenn
Over $200 million in taxpayer dollars have been committed to private companies in no bid contracts to build this depraved detention camp in the Everglades. Just one politically connected vendor got a $78 million contract.
Contracts reveal the big business of building and operating Alligator Alcatraz miamiherald.com/news/local/imm…
James Uthmeier, Fla.'s appointed attorney general, is spending taxpayer money on $875/hr lawyers (+ expenses) in a case where the judge found him in contempt of court. He's using the same firm the DeSantis administration hired to defend its Everglades immigration detention camp.
The Miami suburb is one of a few Florida municipalities to resist threats from state officials to sign the agreement. miaminewtimes.com/news/miami-sho…
52% say U.S. in recession, 64% say economy getting worse — ARG poll
NY bill would ban ICE and other officers from wearing masks. Here’s what to know. gothamist.com/news/ny-bill-w…
This executive order was used to seize land where people are being detained in the Everglades under horrible conditions. It’s outdated but still used by DeSantis to steer multi-million dollar contracts to politically connected vendors without competitive bids. It needs to end.
I joined a coalition of Florida state lawmakers in calling on Governor Ron DeSantis to rescind Executive Order 23-03, an immigration “emergency” order that’s been extended and weaponized for three years despite no actual emergency. 1/3
NEW: Detainees in Florida immigration detention centers are being subjected to inhuman conditions, including denial of medical care, overcrowding, and degrading treatment. These are not isolated incidents, but the result of a fundamentally broken system. trib.al/40H5BtR
‘Migrants at a Miami immigration jail were shackled with their hands tied behind their backs and made to kneel to eat food from styrofoam plates “like dogs”’ per allegations in a report from @hrw .
What I learned covering the abuses at Abu Ghraib in Iraq is that a system that encourages treating people like animals will eventually end up with abuse. A reminder most of those being held have not committed any crimes. theguardian.com/us-news/2025/j…
This makes sense because we still have not seen what the hurricane evacuation plan is and the site is absolutely vulnerable to a lawsuit, starting with the Emergency Order abused by the governor to commandeer the site and steer no-bid contracts to politically connected vendors.
Heard rumors that FDEM toured empty state prisons last week as a backup location for Everglades Immigrant Detention Facility, not only because a lawsuit might lead to an injunction but because they need a Hurricane evacuation plan — a plan we’ve requested to see many times. 1/2
While politically connected vendors get astronomically high contracts, just one of them $78 million, people detained in the Everglades are often being fed rotten food, given half a bar of soap, and there’s insufficient medicine. A person with asthma was never given an inhaler.
DeSantis continues to use emergency orders to steer millions of taxpayer dollars to politically connected contractors without a competitive bidding process. Just one company (Critical Response Strategies) involved in the Everglades detention camp got a $78 million contract!
The @FLSERT pulled all Alligator Alcatraz contracts off the state's public contracts website after reporters asked probing questions about the payments. The contract cover sheets were reposted Saturday but not the pages containing greater detail.
Florida emergencies mean millions for connected contractors orlandosentinel.com/2025/07/19/flo…
New - Trump job approval (Independent voters) 🟤 Disapprove 68% 🟢 Approve 32% YouGov (CBS) #B - 7/18
CRAZY story. An 82-year-old from Chile lost his green card. In June, he went to pick up a new one from @USCIS. While there, he was handcuffed and detained by ICE. An unknown caller then told family she could help, then later said he’d died. But now he’s turned up in Guatemala!
Allentown grandfather’s family was told he died in ICE custody. Then they learned he’s alive — in a hospital in Guatemala, they say trib.al/yYtCqpK
"Están deteniendo personas ilegalmente": vocero de coalición de inmigrantes en Florida sobre Alligator Alcatraz ntn24.com/noticias-actua…
NEW: The @ACLU goes to Judge Boasberg and asks him to request that the Trump admin explain whether they will now bring back all the people who were wrongfully imprisoned in El Salvador under the Alien Enemies Act, so that they can receive the DUE PROCESS they were denied.
U.S. restores Haitian TPS protections, work permits until early February after court ruling miamiherald.com/news/nation-wo…
DeSantis continues to use emergency orders to steer millions of taxpayer dollars to politically connected contractors without a competitive bidding process. Just one company (Critical Response Strategies) involved in the Everglades detention camp got a $78 million contract!
Florida’s disaster pipeline funnels millions to politically connected contractors trib.al/bNlOn3S
Andry Hernández Romero, the innocent make-up artist imprisoned without trial for 4 months in El Salvador by the Trump admin, is FREE. He was wrongfully accused of being a gang member because of his “mom” and “dad” tattoos, and illegally sent to El Salvador without due process.
We have been in touch with Andry Hernández Romero’s legal team and they have confirmed he is out of CECOT and back in Venezuela. We are grateful he is alive and are engaged with both the State Department and his team.