Florida 'Alligator Alcatraz' detention center is closing less than 1 year after it opened, DeSantis says
Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday announced that the Florida immigration detention center known as "Alligator Alcatraz" is closing, less than one year after it opened.
The facility, located at a training airport in Florida, first received detainees last July as part of the Trump administration's ongoing immigration crackdown, but the detention center has been plagued by lawsuits and concerns from lawmakers and immigrant advocates regarding what they called inhumane conditions at the facility.
ABC News previously reported that complaints included lack of medical access and crowded tents where mosquitos and other insects swarm around as well as high temperatures in the sweltering Florida heat.
Environmentalists also raised concerns about the facility, saying its construction would "inflict significant damage on the Everglades ecosystem."
Just last month, a federal judge denied the administration's request to pause an order that requires the government to provide detainees access to counsel, among other resources.
During a press conference, DeSantis said the facility was an "emergency solution that would be temporary" and was created to help the Department of Homeland Security detain people while the agency secured funding for other facilities.
"DHS is on a better footing, DHS has more capacity to be able to handle these folks, and I always said, 'we're only doing this because it's necessary,'" DeSantis said.
Last year, DeSantis lauded the facility as an efficient way for Florida to work with the Trump administration to carry out deportations.
The detention center held more than 20,000 people, the governor said.
Those detained at the facility were transferred out, DeSantis said, although it's unclear where all they were sent to, and DHS did not respond to a request for comment about the transfers.
When asked about the state getting a reimbursement from the federal government for the facility, DeSantis said White House Border Czar Tom Homan is "going to make sure of it."
“I was there with Tom [Homan] and the president, and the president said, 'Get Florida their money,' and Tom's going to make sure of it,” DeSantis said.
It was estimated that the facility was going to cost Florida $450 million a year, according to a source familiar. Officials said some of that money will be reimbursed from Federal Emergency Management Agency's Shelter and Services Program.
Homan, speaking at the press conference, praised DeSantis for his role in the creation of the detention center and for other immigration enforcement actions he has led in the state.
"Gov. DeSantis did a good job, and he's going to continue doing what he's doing to help us make our country safe again," Homan said.
The ACLU, which sued the center over access to counsel, praised the closure of the facility on Friday.
“The fact that this site ever existed is a travesty, given the cruelty behind it, horrific conditions, and blatant violations of due process. We challenged the Trump administration and the State of Florida over the facility, and now celebrate its closure,” said Carmen Iguina González, deputy director for immigration detention with the ACLU’s National Prison Project. "However, the nightmarish scene found at ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ is not wholly unique and reflects systemic patterns of abuse at other ICE detention facilities nationwide."
