The immigration detention center located in Florida's Everglades, infamously referred to as Alligator Alcatraz, is set to hold no detainees in the near future. In a recent email correspondence with a South Florida rabbi who inquired about serving as a chaplain at the facility, Kevin Guthrie, the director of Florida's Department of Emergency Management, indicated, "We are probably going to be down to 0 individuals within a few days." This statement marks a significant shift in the operations of the detention center.
When questioned about the declining population at the Alligator Alcatraz detention center, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis noted, "I do think they've increased the pace of the removals from there." The center's future was further complicated by a recent ruling from U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams, which ordered both Florida and the Trump administration to cease bringing new detainees to the facility and to wind down operations within 60 days.
This ruling came in response to a lawsuit filed by two environmental groups alongside the Miccosukee tribe. In a declaration submitted during the case, U.S. Congressman Maxwell Frost highlighted that during his tour of the facility, he observed that the current population ranged from 300 to 350 detainees, with the whiteboard indicating 336 individuals at that time. Following his visit, Eve Samples, executive director of Friends of the Everglades, reported that volunteers monitoring the facility witnessed at least three buses transporting detainees away from the center.
Samples expressed relief over the apparent phasing out of operations, stating, "It's a relief that the state appears to be phasing out operations ... in compliance with the judge's order." She further emphasized the need for the state to close the facility permanently, saying, "When the last detainee leaves, the state should turn off the lights and shut the door behind them because it's not an appropriate place for a detention center."
In her decision, Judge Williams stated that the plaintiffs had shown evidence that the hastily constructed center violated federal laws requiring public input, consideration of alternative sites, and an environmental impact statement. Florida and the Trump administration have since appealed this decision, seeking the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th District to stay the lower court's injunction.
The state of Florida constructed this controversial detention center at a little-used Training and Transition Airport situated in the heart of the Everglades. Florida officials project that the total expenditure for building and operating the facility will exceed $400 million. To date, records indicate that Governor DeSantis has signed contracts amounting to about $245 million related to the detention center's operations. He clarified that the decision to halt housing detainees was made by federal immigration authorities, stating, "We don't determine who goes into the facility."
As the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) works to relocate detainees to other facilities in compliance with the judge's order, a DHS spokesperson criticized the ruling, stating, "This activist judge doesn't care about the invasion of our country facilitated by the Biden administration, but the American people do. We have the law, the facts, and common sense on our side."
