A U.S. federal judge on Thursday blocked the Trump administration and Florida state government from sending any new migrants to the detention center dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz” and ordered much of the site to be dismantled, effectively shutting it down.
Florida officials quickly announced plans to appeal the ruling.
The detention center was rapidly constructed in just eight days this June, featuring bunk beds, wire cages, and large white tents at an abandoned airfield in the Everglades, a habitat home to a significant population of alligators.
President Donald Trump, who has pledged to deport millions of undocumented migrants, visited the facility last month, highlighting its harsh conditions and joking that the surrounding reptiles would serve as guards.
The White House has nicknamed the site “Alligator Alcatraz,” referencing the former San Francisco Bay prison that Trump has expressed interest in reopening.
The center was designed to house 3,000 migrants, according to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
However, it has faced criticism from both environmentalists and opponents of Trump’s immigration policies, who describe the facility as inhumane.
Thursday’s ruling by District Judge Kathleen Williams follows a lawsuit filed against the Trump administration by Friends of the Everglades and the Center for Biological Diversity.
The environmental groups contend that the detention center endangers the fragile Everglades ecosystem and was built without the legally required environmental impact studies.
Sixty-day deadline
Earlier this month, Williams had temporarily halted further construction at the site.
Now, she has ordered the Trump administration and the state of Florida—governed by Republican Ron DeSantis—to remove all temporary fencing within 60 days, along with lighting, generators, and waste and sewage systems.
Her order also prohibits “bringing any additional persons onto the… site who were not already being detained at the site.”
Several detainees spoke with AFP about life inside the center, citing lack of medical care, mistreatment, and violations of their legal rights.
“They don’t even treat animals like this. This is like torture,” said Luis Gonzalez, a 25-year-old Cuban, calling from inside the facility.
He described sharing a cell with roughly 30 people, in a space enclosed by chain-linked fencing he compared to a chicken coop.
The Trump administration has stated its intention to use the site as a model for other detention centers nationwide.
