The immigration detention centre in the Florida Everglades, ‘Alligator Alcatraz,’ is on the verge of closing its doors. The Associated Press reported that the last remaining detainees are expected to be gone within days.
“We are probably going to be down to 0 individuals within a few days,” wrote Kevin Guthrie, Executive Director of Florida’s Division of Emergency Management (FDEM), in an email exchange with South Florida Rabbi Mario Rojzman about chaplaincy services at the facility, per the AP report.
The news comes less than a week after a federal judge ordered officials to begin dismantling the controversial centre.
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Judge Kathleen Williams, an Obama appointee, ruled that the center must be dismantled. Florida is appealing the decision, and the federal government is asking her to pause the dismantling order while that process plays out.
What is Alligator Alcatraz?
Officially called the South Florida Detention Facility, it was built in just eight days on a remote airstrip in the Everglades. The $245 million taxpayer-funded project was championed by Governor Ron DeSantis, who said it would eventually house up to 4,000 migrants awaiting deportation. Critics, however, called it an “internment camp” and even an “oversized kennel.”
Despite its massive cost, the facility never reached anywhere near full capacity. Since opening on 1 July, the number of detainees has hovered below 1,000. Last week, Representative Maxwell Frost (D-FL) toured the site and reported that only 300 to 350 people remained inside.
The Miami Herald also revealed that “hundreds” of those detained had no criminal records in the United States, further fueling criticism of its operation.
Notably, the Trump administration has been struggling to secure enough beds for migrants while pushing toward an ambitious quota of 3,000 arrests per day.
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Donald Trump himself visited the Everglades facility in July, a day before detainees began arriving. “We’re going to teach them how to run away from an alligator,” he said at that time in front of the reporters.
Alligator Alcatraz shutting down ‘within a few days’ as the last detainees expected to be gone: Report
