TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — “Alligator Alcatraz” may be winding down — but the fight over the controversial Everglades detention facility is far from over.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement says detainees have been transferred out of the soft-sided facility as Florida moves deeper into hurricane season.
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“As we enter into hurricane season, ICE and the state of Florida have moved illegal aliens from the soft-sided facility,” an ICE spokesperson said. “For the safety of the illegal alien detainees, we transferred them to other facilities.”
The facility, built last year in the Everglades near Big Cypress National Preserve, was opened as a fast-moving immigration enforcement hub backed by President Donald Trump and Gov. Ron DeSantis. Supporters touted it as a force multiplier for deportations and said the site was designed with severe weather in mind.
At a roundtable when the facility opened in July, Florida Division of Emergency Management Director Kevin Guthrie defended the structure’s storm readiness.
“It is a fully aluminum frame structure rated for winds of 110 miles an hour, or a high-end Category 2,” Guthrie said. “For those people that don’t think that we’re taking that into consideration.”
But months later, the facility has become the center of a growing political, legal and environmental fight.
The New York Times reported that concerns about conditions, detainee treatment and costs helped prompt the Department of Homeland Security to begin winding the site down. The project has also drawn scrutiny over its price tag, with critics saying the state has spent at least half a billion dollars tied to the effort.
DeSantis, asked about the facility this week, did not confirm operations had fully stopped. He defended the site as a temporary tool that helped the federal government process and deport migrants.
“There’s no question that that saved lives,” DeSantis said. “No question that’s been good for public safety. No question that that relieved burdens on taxpayers.”
The governor has also said the facility was never intended to be permanent.
Democrats have been sharply critical of the spending. House Minority Leader Fentrice Driskell, D-Tampa, questioned whether the money should have gone toward other priorities.
“Half a billion dollars, that’s real money,” Driskell said in May. “That’s money we could reallocate to affordable housing. Those are resources we could put towards paying our teachers what they’re worth.”
Environmental groups are also pressing ahead.
Friends of the Everglades and the Center for Biological Diversity sued to stop activity at the site, arguing the state and federal governments failed to follow environmental laws before building in an ecologically sensitive area surrounded by Big Cypress National Preserve.
Those groups say the detainee transfer does not erase the case — or the need to repair damage they say was done to the Everglades ecosystem.
“We are calling for remediation of that harm and a return to the lightly used training runway that existed before June of last year, so that Big Cypress National Preserve, our country’s first national preserve, can be protected again,” said Eve Samples, executive director of Friends of the Everglades.
Watchdogs near the site said Wednesday they were still seeing activity, including fuel deliveries, buses and vehicles moving in and out.
“It still looks like business as usual out here,” said Jessica Namath, a conservationist who has been monitoring the site. “They’re bringing in jet fuel, and buses are going in and out, and you have hundreds of cars driving on and off site.”
The state, meanwhile, continues to seek reimbursement from the federal government. FEMA has released a small portion of $58 million, but Florida is still waiting on additional funds.
“FEMA is working closely with the Florida Division of Emergency Management and the State of Florida,” a FEMA spokesperson said. “Reimbursement requests are in process.”
