Judge demands proof ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ won’t reopen in Everglades

A federal judge is keeping an ACLU case over Florida’s former Everglades detention camp alive until state and federal officials provide binding evidence that it is permanently closed.

Published about 3 hours ago

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Judge demands proof ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ won’t reopen in Everglades

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A federal judge has refused to let state and federal officials end a lawsuit over Florida’s “Alligator Alcatraz” immigration detention site on the strength of public closure announcements alone, ordering them to show evidence that the Everglades facility is permanently shut and will not reopen.naplesnews

U.S. District Judge Sheri Polster Chappell denied a request to pause proceedings in the ACLU-backed case, writing that the court had seen no proof from an official with authority to declare the site permanently closed. She ordered the governments to provide that evidence, or a timeline for producing it, within four days.islandernews The lawsuit challenges detainees’ access to lawyers, communications and visitation at the facility.okcfox

The order keeps pressure on Gov. Ron DeSantis’s administration weeks after he said the site had “fulfilled the role” it was built to serve and had no detainees left. PBS reported in June that Florida officials described the detention camp as temporary, while immigrant-rights lawyers said detainees had been moved to facilities in several other states and that conditions at the Everglades site were unsafe.miamiherald

The facility, built in days at the Dade-Collier airstrip, became a symbol of Florida’s expanded role in federal immigration enforcement. An earlier federal injunction found the state and federal defendants had not adequately addressed environmental-review requirements and ordered the site wound down; Florida appealed that decision.abcnews The Miami Herald reported that aerial photos later showed tents, cages, generators and the entrance sign had been removed, but the ACLU argued that images and political statements did not legally foreclose a restart.naplesnews

Environmental litigation is also continuing. WUSF reported that the Center for Biological Diversity dropped one Clean Air Act lawsuit after imagery showed generators had been dismantled, but said it would keep pressing for site remediation and accountability.cbsnews Politico reported that Friends of the Everglades wants transparency over any next use of the land, including restoration plans and possible runway removal.wusf

That leaves the legal question narrower but consequential: whether “closed” means dismantled for now, or barred from coming back. Until the governments put that commitment in court records, Chappell’s order keeps the case alive and the Everglades site under judicial scrutiny.muslimnetwork

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Judge demands proof ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ won’t reopen in Everglades