Judge Orders That 'Alligator Alcatraz' Detention Center Be Shut Down for Now

The story appeared at DU in LBN last night, courtesy of msongs:

Federal judge orders closure of Trump's 'Alligator Alcatraz' immigration jail

The judge’s order is not based on a violation of the civil rights of the people being sent to the concentration camp, but rather a failure to conduct an environmental review of the site.

Judge Orders That ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ Detention Center Be Shut Down for Now

A judge ruled that the state and federal governments acted illegally by not conducting an environmental review before building the center in the Florida Everglades.


An immigration detention center in the Florida Everglades, known as Alligator Alcatraz.Credit...Rebecca Blackwell/Associated Press
By Patricia Mazzei and David C. Adams
Reporting from Miami
Aug. 21, 2025

A federal judge on Thursday ordered that no more immigrant detainees be sent to a center in the Florida Everglades, and that much of the facility be dismantled. The ruling rebuked the state and federal governments for failing to consider potential environmental harms before building the facility, known as Alligator Alcatraz.

The judge gave both branches of the government 60 days to move out existing detainees and begin to remove fencing, lighting, power generators and other materials. The order also prohibits any new construction at the site.

The decision is a major legal setback for the detention center, the nation’s first state-run facility for federal immigration detainees, which has faced several lawsuits and numerous complaints about poor conditions and other problems. The state immediately filed a notice saying that it intended to appeal.

Judge Kathleen M. Williams of the Federal District Court in Miami found that the state and federal governments had violated a federal law that requires an environmental review before any major federal construction project. Judge Williams partly granted a preliminary injunction sought by environmentalists and the Miccosukee Tribe, whose members live in the area. The detention center is surrounded by protected lands that form part of the sensitive Everglades ecological system.

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Patricia Mazzei is the lead reporter for The Times in Miami, covering Florida and Puerto Rico.