Everglades Detention Center Closure Expected in 1-2 Months

Environmental groups anticipate the closure of an immigration detention center in the Florida Everglades within the next one to two months, a move they link to the return of their lawsuit to a federal judge who previously ordered the facility shut down.

The center, known as Alligator Alcatraz and operated by the Florida Division of Emergency Management, opened in July 2023 on a remote airstrip site to hold migrants as part of immigration enforcement efforts. Former President Donald Trump visited the site last summer. Friends of the Everglades and the Center for Biological Diversity filed suit shortly after, arguing that state and federal officials failed to conduct a required environmental review under federal law before converting the location.

U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams in Miami sided with the groups in August 2023, ordering the facility to wind down operations within two months. A federal appeals court blocked that order last month, ruling that the state-run center did not require a federal environmental impact statement at the time because it operated without federal funds. The appeals court remanded the case to Williams, restoring her jurisdiction over the litigation.