OCHOPEE, Fla. — Alligator Alcatraz is reportedly on the brink of shutting down for good nearly a year after the facility opened.
The fate of the embattled immigration detention center is in flux.
Vendors have confirmed to Local 10 that they’ve been told operations at the facility will end by Monday, nearly one year after President Donald Trump’s famed visit on the day gates opened.
The facility was built in less than two weeks, but a new chapter for the detention center is taking shape.
Monday morning, Floridians for Public Lands founder Jessica Namath observed vendors and law enforcement vehicles coming and going from the facility.
“It is June 1, start of hurricane season, so I was curious what was happening at the site, and I have definitely seen more vehicular traffic than I did at the middle of last month,” she said. “I am hopeful that they are packing up and getting out of the Everglades.”
Sky 10 was above Alligator Alcatraz in recent days as a growing number of detainees inside the facility are calling Local 10, claiming they’re seeing operations shutting down.
Multiple sources said the number of detainees is dropping drastically.
“It’s supposed to be to effectuate the removal, not to have them there indefinitely,” immigration attorney Sammy Aliferis said.
Justo Bentacourt was one of the inmates recently released from Alligator Alcatraz.
He was released two weeks ago after being detained six months ago during a routine immigration check-in.
“I knew one day I’d get out,” Bentacourt said shortly after his release.
Over the weekend, President Donald Trump posted a message on social media, telling Bentacourt to enjoy his freedom with his daughter who worked hard to free him.
The high cost to run the facility could be a factor in the decision to shut it down as the money comes from Florida’s emergency fund.
U.S. Democratic Congressman Maxwell Frost, who represents District 10 in Florida, weighed in.
“They spent nearly a billion dollars of taxpayer dollars on this failed project of human suffering,” he said.
More than $600 million is supposed to be reimbursed by the federal government, but the timeline for complete repayment is unclear.
“It’s irrelevant whether the state’s being reimbursed or not – they’re being reimbursed with our taxpayer money regardless," Frost said.
Gov. Ron DeSantis defended his actions to support the controversial detention center, but he does not deny the recent New York Times report that the federal government is closing it for good.
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