The Everglades detention center in Florida, popularly known as "Alligator Alcatraz," might close much sooner than expected. State officials now say that the site could be cleared of detainees in a matter of days, despite ongoing legal battles. This is an unexpected turn in the heated fight over its future.
Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis' administration and the federal government are fighting a judge's order to close the controversial state-run immigration detention facility in the Everglades, known as "Alligator Alcatraz," by late October, but a top Florida official says it will probably be empty in a few days. The Associated Press received a shared email exchange that confirms this. Rojzman and the executive assistant who sent Guthrie the initial email both told the AP on Wednesday that the messages were accurate.
“We are probably going to be down to 0 individuals within a few days," stated Florida Division of Emergency Management Executive Director Kevin Guthrie in a message to South Florida Rabbi Mario Rojzman on August 22 regarding chaplaincy services at the facility, as quoted in a report by The AP.
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Designed to house up to 3,000 detainees, the facility was quickly built two months ago as part of President Donald Trump's campaign to deport illegal immigrants. It once housed nearly 1,000 detainees, but during a tour last week, U.S. Representative Maxwell Frost, D-Fla., said he was informed that there were only 300 to 350 left.
The detention center has been the target of three lawsuits contesting its operations, one of which claimed that at least 100 inmates had been deported. Others have been moved to other facilities for immigration detention.
Less than a week after a federal judge in Miami ordered the detention center to shut down operations, meaning the final inmate at "Alligator Alcatraz" must leave within 60 days, news broke that the last inmate could leave the facility in a matter of days, as quoted in a report by The AP.
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The federal government requested that U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams postpone her order while the state of Florida appealed the ruling, arguing that due to overcrowding in other Florida detention facilities, the thousands of beds at the Everglades facility were desperately needed, as quoted in a report by The AP.
The request was resisted by the Miccosukee Tribe, whose lawsuit resulted in the judge's decision, and environmental organizations. They contested the claim that the Everglades facility was necessary, particularly in light of Florida's intentions to establish a second immigration detention center in north Florida, which DeSantis has named the "Deportation Depot."
According to Elise Pautler Bennett, a senior lawyer for the Center for Biological Diversity, one of the organizations that filed the lawsuit, the government's claims that the facility's closure would "compromise the government's ability to enforce immigration laws" are undermined by the apparent attempts to close it quickly.
"If it was that hard, they wouldn't have done it, for the most part," she stated. The request to stay her order was still pending as of Wednesday.
According to the judge's order, fencing, lighting, and generators should be taken out of the facility after the number of inmates has decreased by moving them to other facilities within 60 days.
The Miccosukee Tribe and environmental organizations had contended in their lawsuit that additional operations and construction should be halted until state and federal officials adhered to federal environmental regulations. The facility endangered environmentally sensitive wetlands that are home to protected plants and animals, according to their lawsuit, and it would jeopardize decades of environmental restoration efforts that have cost billions of dollars.
At a sparsely populated, single-runway training airport in the heart of the untamed and isolated Everglades, state officials had already inked more than $245 million in contracts by the end of July to construct and run the facility. Officially, the center opened on July 1.
"Severe problems" at the facility that were "previously unheard-of in the immigration system" were detailed by civil rights attorneys in their lawsuits.
They claimed that detainees had vanished from ICE's online detainee locator, that they had been held for weeks without being charged, and that no one at the facility was making initial decisions about custody or bond.
Detainees reported unflushing toilets, fecal waste saturating floors, worms appearing in the food, and insects such as mosquitoes all over the place.
What was meant to hold thousands of detainees is now on its way to being cleared out, which will have both political and financial consequences.
How many people are still in jail there?
There are now less than 350 detainees, down from almost 1,000 at its peak.
Why is "Alligator Alcatraz" closing?
A judge told it to close because of problems with the environment and a number of lawsuits about how badly detainees were treated.
Why would the facility close so quickly?
Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis' administration and the federal government are fighting a judge's order to close the controversial state-run immigration detention facility in the Everglades, known as "Alligator Alcatraz," by late October, but a top Florida official says it will probably be empty in a few days. The Associated Press received a shared email exchange that confirms this. Rojzman and the executive assistant who sent Guthrie the initial email both told the AP on Wednesday that the messages were accurate.
“We are probably going to be down to 0 individuals within a few days," stated Florida Division of Emergency Management Executive Director Kevin Guthrie in a message to South Florida Rabbi Mario Rojzman on August 22 regarding chaplaincy services at the facility, as quoted in a report by The AP.
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What kinds of lawsuits and complaints have there been?
Designed to house up to 3,000 detainees, the facility was quickly built two months ago as part of President Donald Trump's campaign to deport illegal immigrants. It once housed nearly 1,000 detainees, but during a tour last week, U.S. Representative Maxwell Frost, D-Fla., said he was informed that there were only 300 to 350 left.
The detention center has been the target of three lawsuits contesting its operations, one of which claimed that at least 100 inmates had been deported. Others have been moved to other facilities for immigration detention.
Less than a week after a federal judge in Miami ordered the detention center to shut down operations, meaning the final inmate at "Alligator Alcatraz" must leave within 60 days, news broke that the last inmate could leave the facility in a matter of days, as quoted in a report by The AP.
ALSO READ: Countdown begins: 8 new Apple products expected to drop at September 9 event
The federal government requested that U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams postpone her order while the state of Florida appealed the ruling, arguing that due to overcrowding in other Florida detention facilities, the thousands of beds at the Everglades facility were desperately needed, as quoted in a report by The AP.
The request was resisted by the Miccosukee Tribe, whose lawsuit resulted in the judge's decision, and environmental organizations. They contested the claim that the Everglades facility was necessary, particularly in light of Florida's intentions to establish a second immigration detention center in north Florida, which DeSantis has named the "Deportation Depot."
According to Elise Pautler Bennett, a senior lawyer for the Center for Biological Diversity, one of the organizations that filed the lawsuit, the government's claims that the facility's closure would "compromise the government's ability to enforce immigration laws" are undermined by the apparent attempts to close it quickly.
"If it was that hard, they wouldn't have done it, for the most part," she stated. The request to stay her order was still pending as of Wednesday.
What happens next after it ends?
According to the judge's order, fencing, lighting, and generators should be taken out of the facility after the number of inmates has decreased by moving them to other facilities within 60 days.
The Miccosukee Tribe and environmental organizations had contended in their lawsuit that additional operations and construction should be halted until state and federal officials adhered to federal environmental regulations. The facility endangered environmentally sensitive wetlands that are home to protected plants and animals, according to their lawsuit, and it would jeopardize decades of environmental restoration efforts that have cost billions of dollars.
At a sparsely populated, single-runway training airport in the heart of the untamed and isolated Everglades, state officials had already inked more than $245 million in contracts by the end of July to construct and run the facility. Officially, the center opened on July 1.
"Severe problems" at the facility that were "previously unheard-of in the immigration system" were detailed by civil rights attorneys in their lawsuits.
They claimed that detainees had vanished from ICE's online detainee locator, that they had been held for weeks without being charged, and that no one at the facility was making initial decisions about custody or bond.
Detainees reported unflushing toilets, fecal waste saturating floors, worms appearing in the food, and insects such as mosquitoes all over the place.
What was meant to hold thousands of detainees is now on its way to being cleared out, which will have both political and financial consequences.
FAQs
How many people are still in jail there?
There are now less than 350 detainees, down from almost 1,000 at its peak.
Why is "Alligator Alcatraz" closing?
A judge told it to close because of problems with the environment and a number of lawsuits about how badly detainees were treated.
