“Knowing that the same district judge who previously enjoined the operation would soon reassume oversight — the defendants are now effectively waving the white flag,” Paul Schwiep said, describing how the federal case over Florida’s Everglades immigration detention center has been moving toward closure. Environmental groups that sued after the facility opened said the timeline is no coincidence because the matter has returned to the judge who had previously ordered the detention center to wind down.
The detention center, nicknamed “Alligator Alcatraz,” opened last July as a state-run facility, with DeSantis’ administration describing it as temporary. DeSantis said Wednesday in Titusville, Florida, that he had not received “official word” that federal authorities are going to stop sending detainees there.
A federal appellate court decision last month kept the center open for now, blocking a lower court ruling that would have required the facility to wind down operations. The appellate court sent the case back to the lower court judge, meaning Kathleen Williams — the Miami-based judge who had previously ordered the facility to wind down — resumed oversight as the litigation continues.
Schwiep said the reassignment effectively ends any plan to keep operating indefinitely, pointing to the earlier injunction by Williams and the facility’s approval process. Environmental groups argued that the remote airstrip site in the Everglades was not given a proper environmental review required by federal law before it was converted into an immigration detention center.
DeSantis’ comments came as reporting suggested the state-run facility may close soon. DeSantis’ administration was asked about the future and the costs on Wednesday, and he said he had not received official notification that detainee transfers would stop. But vendors supplying and helping run the facility have been told closure could be as soon as next month, according to reports Tuesday by The New York Times and CBS News Miami, the AP report said. The Florida Department of Emergency Management, which operates the detention center, did not respond to an emailed inquiry on Wednesday, and DeSantis’ press secretary, Molly Best, referred questions about the facility to the state emergency management agency.
DeSantis has said Florida expected reimbursement for the facility, and he described the planned shutdown timeline as not involving negotiations with the federal government. He said Tuesday that the state expected to be reimbursed by the federal government for $608 million, which he said had already been approved by FEMA, and said, “There’s no negotiations on that.”
Supporters and critics of the facility have sharply diverged on what it represents. DeSantis opened the center to support the immigration crackdown by the administration of President Donald Trump, and Trump visited the detention center last summer. Meanwhile, an attorney for two detainees has accused guards of severely beating and pepper-spraying detainees, and other detainees have described conditions including worms showing up in food, toilets not flushing, and mosquitoes and other insects in the area.
In Congress, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz said Tuesday that the facility “should have never been built,” describing it as a “monument to cruelty, waste and environmental and tribal lands abuse.” Her remarks echoed the environmental groups’ core argument that the facility’s construction should have undergone the federal review process required when actions may significantly affect the environment.
The legal dispute centers on whether the Everglades detention center must comply with federal environmental laws, and when those obligations attach. The appellate court blocked the earlier wind-down order after concluding that the Florida-run facility was not under federal control and did not need to comply at the time. Schwiep said, however, the appellate court made clear that once Florida received federal reimbursement, the facility would have to comply with federal environmental law.
As the case returns to Williams’ docket for the next phase, environmental groups are pressing their claim that the facility can’t keep operating without the required review. DeSantis, for his part, left open what federal authorities will do next, while acknowledging he had not received formal notice that detainee transfers would stop.