Environmental groups assert that the anticipated closure of an immigration detention center in the Florida Everglades, expected within the next month or two, is directly linked to their ongoing legal challenge. The facility, nicknamed “Alligator Alcatraz,” is at the center of a lawsuit arguing that its construction lacked the required environmental review.
Legal Battle Resumes
Last month, a federal appellate court temporarily kept the detention center open, blocking a lower court order that had mandated its shutdown. However, the case has been sent back to the lower court judge, who previously ruled against the facility. This judge will now oversee the litigation as it continues.
“Knowing that the same district judge who previously enjoined the operation would soon reassume oversight, the defendants are now effectively waving the white flag,” said Paul Schwiep, attorney for the environmental groups that filed the lawsuit.
Governor's Response
When asked about the facility's future and costs on Wednesday, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis stated he had not received “official word” that federal authorities would stop sending detainees. However, reports from The New York Times and CBS News Miami on Tuesday indicated that vendors have been informed of a possible closure as soon as next month. The Florida Department of Emergency Management, which operates the center, did not respond to an email inquiry. Governor DeSantis’ press secretary, Molly Best, directed questions to the state emergency management agency.
“We didn’t build any permanent facilities down there because we knew it was going to be temporary,” DeSantis said during a news conference in Titusville, Florida, on Wednesday.
Background and Allegations
The facility was opened last July to support the immigration enforcement efforts of President Donald Trump’s administration, with Trump visiting the center last summer. Allegations of abuse have emerged, with an attorney for two detainees accusing guards of severe beatings and pepper-spraying. Other detainees have reported worms in food, non-flushing toilets, and pervasive mosquitoes and insects.
“This monument to cruelty, waste and environmental and tribal lands abuse should have never been built,” said U.S. Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz, a Democrat from Florida, on Tuesday.
Environmental Lawsuit
Shortly after the facility opened, Friends of the Everglades and the Center for Biological Diversity sued state and federal officials, claiming the remote airstrip site in the Everglades was not subjected to a proper environmental review as required by federal law. U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams in Miami agreed and ordered the facility to wind down operations within two months in August. The appellate court blocked that order, arguing that the Florida-run facility was not under federal control and thus not required to comply with federal environmental impact review laws. However, the appellate court noted that once Florida receives federal reimbursement for the facility, it would have to comply with the federal environmental law, according to Schwiep.
DeSantis stated on Tuesday that the state expects to be reimbursed $608 million by the federal government, a sum already approved by FEMA. “There’s no negotiations on that,” he said.
