Florida plans to shut down the Everglades migrant detention site known as Alligator Alcatraz as soon as early June, according to a news report.
Officials at the site told vendors this week the facility, which is located in a sensitive region of the river of grass, will close and detainees will be moved elsewhere, The New York Times reported. State Rep. Anna Eskamani (D-Orlando) confirmed the reporting to Inside Climate News, citing conversations with two congressional members she declined to identify publicly. But Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, was vague about the facility’s future when asked about it Wednesday during a news briefing.
“I don’t think you get the job done without that close cooperation where we are assisting in this important mission, but if they have beds other places where they’re able to do it, that’s fine. That was never meant to be permanent,” he said. “We didn’t build any permanent facilities down there because we knew it was going to be temporary. Now, I have not gotten official word that they’re going to not be sending illegal aliens there.”
The Florida Division of Emergency Management was similarly vague in a statement provided to Inside Climate News: “If federal operational needs evolve and the Department of Homeland Security implements alternative plans for the South Florida detention facility, the state will pivot accordingly.”
