Judge Orders Shutdown of Florida’s $218 Million ‘Alligator Alcatraz’

A federal judge has reaffirmed an injunction requiring Florida to halt operations at the state-run immigration detention complex known as “Alligator Alcatraz,” raising the prospect that taxpayers will not recoup the $218 million spent converting a remote Everglades airport into the short-lived facility. U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams late Wednesday denied requests to pause her earlier ruling, saying the federal government’s immigration enforcement goals would not be hindered by a temporary shutdown. State officials have told the court the center could be empty within days as detainees are transferred elsewhere. Court filings show the Florida Division of Emergency Management will forfeit most of the $218 million capital outlay and face an additional $15 million to $20 million to dismantle the tents, cages and trailers now occupying the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport—plus a comparable sum should the state seek to reinstall them. An Associated Press review of public records indicates Florida has already signed at least $405 million in vendor contracts linked to the site, which opened on 1 July. The complex has drawn complaints of unsanitary conditions and restricted legal access for migrants. Judge Williams sided with the Miccosukee Tribe and environmental groups that argued the state bypassed required federal environmental reviews for a project set in sensitive wetlands. Although the Department of Homeland Security said the order could disrupt enforcement, it has begun relocating detainees and noted that no federal funds have yet been committed to the facility. Twenty-two Republican-led states are backing Florida’s appeal. Governor Ron DeSantis is simultaneously preparing a second detention center, dubbed “Deportation Depot,” at a north Florida prison as legal challenges and mounting costs cloud the future of the Everglades project.