Judge orders dismantling of 'Alcatraz of the Alligators' within 60 days

A judge on Thursday banned US authorities from sending new detainees to the immigration detention center known as "Alcatraz of the Alligators" in Florida and ordered the facility to be dismantled within 60 days, saying it violates environmental regulations.

Judge Kathleen M. Williams' order is a setback for the Florida government and the Trump administration, which had sought to make the facility in the heart of the Everglades a model for other detention centers across the country.

The court ruling extends a suspension of construction work ordered by the same judge two weeks ago and requires authorities to remove temporary fences, lighting systems, generators, sewage treatment systems and other elements “installed to support this project,” which would imply the closure of the site.

According to the judge, the state and the US government violated a federal law that requires an environmental impact assessment before the construction of facilities like the detention center.

The judge sided with environmental groups and the local Miccosukee Tribe, who filed a lawsuit claiming the detention center was a danger to the delicate local wetland ecosystem.

“The project causes irreparable harm in the form of habitat loss and increased mortality of endangered species in the region,” the judge wrote in her order.

The Florida government, which owns the facilities, appealed the court decision.

Governor Ron DeSantis' administration built the center on an abandoned air base in the Everglades in just eight days, aiming to help President Trump in his campaign against illegal immigration.

Since its opening on July 2, activists and opponents have been calling for its closure, saying it put a protected natural area at risk and failed to respect inmates' rights.

Several prisoners and lawyers have recently denounced appalling detention conditions. In interviews with AFP, they spoke of days without seeing sunlight and criticized the lack of hygiene and access to medical care for detained migrants.

One of them, transferred to another center, accused the prison guards of assault after he complained about the conditions there.

With the order issued Thursday, Judge Williams, appointed by former Democratic President Barack Obama in 2011, becomes a thorn in the side of Ron DeSantis' administration.

A few months ago, she had already blocked a state law that would have made it a crime for undocumented immigrants to enter Florida, which generated a lot of criticism from the administration.

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