Sep
7
Mission Continues at Alligator Alcatraz
“Alligator Alcatraz is in fact, like we’ve always said, open for business.” — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis
To refresh your mind about this “Alligator Alcatraz” business, this is the nickname for the recently opened immigration detention facility being built at an isolated, unused airfield in the Everglades. It is a project undertaken by the State of Florida, though it has the blessing of the Trump administration and in particular the Dept. of Homeland Security (DHS) and Sec. Kristi Noem. It operates using “state funds on state lands under state emergency authority,” but Gov. DeSantis has stated that the hundreds of millions of dollars spent on the facility will eventually be reimbursed by the federal government.
When the facility was announced back in June, the political Left — and basically anyone anti-Trump and/or pro-illegal immigrants — raised quite a stink. They tried declaring the facility would expose residents to inadequate sanitation, deadly pathogens, extreme weather, and generally terrible living conditions, but no actual evidence of inhumane conditions have been substantiated. So, not having much success with focusing on the facility itself or its purpose of temporarily holding illegal immigrants awaiting transport, the objectors found an environment-based, legal attack vector.
A lawsuit was brought by Friends of the Everglades, the Center for Biological Diversity, and the Miccosukee Tribe. The plaintiffs argued that the state and federal defendants had not followed federal law requiring an environmental review for the detention center in the middle of sensitive wetlands.
In response, “U.S. district judge Kathleen Williams granted a preliminary injunction halting construction and prohibiting the government from transferring any additional detainees to the site.” Also, the Trump administration — which, btw, is not in charge of construction at the site — was given 60 days to dismantle whatever infrastructure had so far been constructed and remove fencing, lighting, generators, etc.
Both Florida and the Trump administration got a win this week, however, as the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit granted a motion from the DHS to pause the shutdown order. The appellate court voted 2-1 in favor of the motion, saying it was in the public interest and writing that…
“While the environmental effects mentioned by the Plaintiffs may result in down-the-line harm, the injuries facing the Defendants and the public are critical, immediate, and concrete.”
On the other hand, as reported by Forbes…
“The dissenting judge said the district court ‘properly balanced’ equities and public interest, noting the court considered ‘significant ongoing and likely future environmental harms’ and ‘the importance of immigration enforcement to the state and federal defendants.'”
The ruling allows the facility to continue operations while the lawsuit proceeds. Also, as per the New York Times,
“In granting the stay, the appeals panel found that the lower court had misinterpreted a federal law requiring a review of potential environmental harms before building a major project in the ecologically fragile Everglades. It found that because the detention center had so far been entirely funded by Florida, and because the state operated the center, the National Environmental Policy Act would not apply.”
So, for the time being (and hopefully much longer), Florida will continue to build out the “Alligator Alcatraz” facility — up to 5000 beds when completed — and facilitate the U.S. government’s efforts to remove illegal immigrants — especially the most dangerous — from the populace before deporting them back to their home countries. Btw, contrary to popular belief, there are no actual alligators on the payroll.
Florida is the first state to run an immigrant detention center (normally a federal role), and there is discussion of opening others in the Jacksonville and Panhandle areas. Other states have since announced plans to house federal immigration detainees in state-owned facilities. The DHS recently announced plans for an ICE detention center nicknamed “Cornhusker Clink”, based at a minimum security prison work camp in southwest Nebraska.
