OCHOPEE, Fla. — The days at “Alligator Alcatraz” may be numbered after a federal judge ordered the state to begin winding down operations at the detention center within two months.
“From the beginning this detention center was reckless and dangerous,” Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said Friday morning while visiting the site, one day after the ruling. “As the judge noted in her ruling the state ignored this county’s repeated warnings.”
The order, handed down late Thursday by U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams, bars both the Trump and DeSantis administrations from sending new detainees to the facility.
The 82-page ruling gives Florida 60 days to start removing generators, fuel, sewage and other waste that transformed a remote Everglades airstrip into what environmental groups have called a dangerous detention center.
Protesters gathered Friday morning outside the facility’s entrance, standing near a sign that now counts down its remaining days.
“This is a step in the right direction and we have cause to celebrate, but we don’t have cause to declare victory,” said protestor Joshua Rubin.
Environmental groups and the Miccosukee Tribe had filed a lawsuit arguing that the government skirted federal law when the facility was erected in just days without environmental review.
“Do you feel confident that the sign right behind you will go away in this operation as well?” Local 10’s Michaila Hightower asked another protestor Friday morning.
“Not confident but hopeful. We have hope this morning,” the protestor replied.
Eve Samples, a member of Friends of the Everglades said, “As I said earlier this sure looks like America’s worst idea.”
Under the National Environmental Policy Act, facilities built near sensitive wildlife areas in the Everglades are required to undergo environmental reviews.
Miccosukee Chairman Talbert Cypress issued a statement saying, “When it comes to our homeland, there is no compromise.”
The lawsuit remains ongoing, and Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration is expected to appeal the ruling.
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