A U.S. judge ordered Trump’s “Alligator Alcatraz” migrant detention camp dismantled within 60 days, citing environmental and humanitarian concerns.
A U.S. federal judge has ordered the dismantling of the controversial migrant detention facility in Florida’s Everglades, widely known as “Alligator Alcatraz,” ruling that it was illegally constructed without environmental impact studies.
District Judge Kathleen Williams on Thursday barred the Trump administration and the state of Florida from bringing new migrants to the site and gave officials 60 days to remove fencing, lighting, generators, and waste systems. The ruling follows a lawsuit by Friends of the Everglades and the Center for Biological Diversity, which argued that the site threatened the fragile ecosystem.
The detention center, assembled in just eight days at an abandoned airfield, was intended to house 3,000 migrants. President Donald Trump had boasted about its harsh conditions, joking that the surrounding alligators would act as guards.
Detainees, however, described the facility as “torture,” citing overcrowding, lack of medical care, and mistreatment. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has vowed to appeal the decision.