OCHOPEEE, Fla. — Jessica Namath said she has noticed more traffic than usual out of Alligator Alcatraz, a detention facility running as a state-federal partnership in Ochopee, the heart of the Everglades.
Namath joined the voices of environmentalists and human rights activists who want to shut down the facility that the state opened for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to hold detainees.
“I am hopeful that they are packing up and getting out of the Everglades,” said Namath, the founder of Floridians for Public Lands, an advocacy group concerned about the facility’s proximity to the Big Cypress National Preserve.
The facility, also known by state officials as the South Florida Detention Facility and by ICE as the Florida Soft Sided Facility South, remained open on Tuesday.
“Daily operations at Alligator Alley continue as usual,” a Homeland Security spokesperson wrote in a statement.
Related report: Detainees say operations at ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ appear to be slowing down
On June 23, the Florida Division of Emergency Management seized the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport from Miami-Dade County and opened the network of air-conditioned tents on July 1.
“At some point we will, of course, break it down,” DeSantis said on May 7. “That was always the goal, and then that airport will go just back to its normal use, which is a very minimal use, a lot of training flights.”
On May 21, DeSantis issued an executive order extending his Jan. 6, 2023, declaration of “a state of emergency in Florida due to the mass migration of illegal aliens” for 60 days.
There were delays from the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s payments, and data on contractors’ billings also showed that the remote location increased costs.
Critics view it all as wasteful. Namath hopes for a shutdown.
“It seems to many of us to be the most fiscally irresponsible and environmentally damaging location that they could have chosen,” Namath said. “I would think it is time to start wrapping up and getting out of here.”
Complete coverage: More on Alligator Alcatraz
- ‘Why a Cuban family?’ Trump singles out South Florida man once detained at Alligator Alcatraz
- Will Alligator Alcatraz shut down this week?
- Florida plans to close ‘Alligator Alcatraz’
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