Alligator Alcatraz, a key detention center for the Trump administration's mass deportation campaign, may soon be shut down. On Thursday, a federal judge ordered the state of Florida and the federal government to wind down operations at Alligator Alcatraz within 60 days while the court rules on the merits of an environmental lawsuit filed against the facility.
U.S. District Judge Kathleen M. Williams of the Southern District of Florida previously paused construction on August 7 at the state-run immigration detention center located on 30 square miles of the Everglades. The pause was issued to stop the state from continuing activities—including filling, paving, and installing new infrastructure and lighting—that would further disrupt the Everglades' ecosystem before the court could rule on the request for a preliminary injunction filed by environmental groups. In response to the pause, Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis posted on X that operations would continue at Alligator Alcatraz, including detentions and deportations.
But after hearing arguments presented by the state disputing that the facility poses environmental threats, Williams granted the environmental groups' request for a preliminary injunction. "Plaintiffs have provided extensive evidence supporting their claims of significant ongoing and likely future environmental harms from the project," Williams wrote in her opinion. "By contrast, while the Defendants repeatedly espouse the importance of immigration enforcement, they offered little to no evidence why this detention camp, in this particular location, is uniquely suited and critical to that mission."
