Federal Judge Orders Closure of Notorious ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ Immigration Facility
Federal Judge Orders Closure of Notorious ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ Immigration Facility
A federal judge in Miami issued a significant ruling late on Thursday, ordering the immediate closure of the Trump administration’s controversial “Alligator Alcatraz” immigration detention facility within 60 days. The judge also stipulated that no new detainees are to be admitted to the site while it is being wound down.
District Court Judge Kathleen Williams’s decision expands on a temporary restraining order issued two weeks prior, which had already halted further construction at the remote tented camp. The facility has faced widespread criticism over reports of harsh conditions, alleged abuse of detainees, and denial of due process for individuals awaiting deportation.
In her comprehensive 82-page order, published Friday in the US district court’s southern district of Florida, Williams concluded that the facility was causing severe and irreparable environmental damage to the delicate Florida Everglades ecosystem. She highlighted that a proposal to develop the same site into a massive tourist airport was rejected in the 1960s due to potential harm to the land and its sensitive environment.
Williams emphasized, “Since that time, every Florida governor, every Florida senator, and countless local and national political figures, including presidents, have publicly pledged their unequivocal support for the restoration, conservation, and protection of the Everglades. This order does nothing more than uphold the basic requirements of legislation designed to fulfill those promises.”
The ruling prohibits any further construction at the site and forbids an increase in the current detainee population, estimated at approximately 700. After the 60-day period, all construction materials, fencing, generators, and fixtures that constitute the detention camp must be removed.
This judgment marks a major victory for a coalition of environmental groups and a Native American tribe that had filed a lawsuit against the state of Florida and the federal government. Judge Williams concurred that the rapid, eight-day construction of the jail at a disused airfield in late June had indeed harmed the sensitive wetlands of a national preserve and further endangered federally protected species.
Eve Samples, executive director of Friends of the Everglades, one of the plaintiff groups, stated, “This is a landmark victory for the Everglades and countless Americans who believe this imperiled wilderness should be protected, not exploited. It sends a clear message that environmental laws must be respected by leaders at the highest levels of our government, and there are consequences for ignoring them.” The alliance is scheduled to hold a press conference on Friday morning to elaborate on the ruling.
Conversely, the decision represents a significant setback for the Trump administration’s detention and deportation policies. The former president had previously promoted the camp, which at one point housed as many as 1,400 detainees, as a holding place for “some of the most vicious people on the planet,” despite hundreds of those held having no criminal record or active criminal proceedings.
There has been no immediate official reaction to Williams’s ruling from the Florida Department of Emergency Management, which operates the jail on behalf of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), or from the Department of Homeland Security. However, lawyers representing the state had indicated in court last week that they would appeal any adverse ruling. Additionally, hundreds of detainees were reportedly moved from “Alligator Alcatraz” to other immigration facilities over the weekend, in anticipation of Williams’s order for its closure. Florida’s Republican Governor Ron DeSantis had recently announced plans to open a second immigration jail at a disused prison near Gainesville to expand capacity.
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