OCHOPEE, Fla. (CBS12) — New reactions are emerging following the closure of Florida’s controversial Alligator Alcatraz detention facility, with local leaders and activists raising environmental and cultural concerns about the land where it operated.
Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said the site, located within the Everglades footprint, should not have been developed.
“This is land that needs to be conserved. It’s in the Everglades footprint. It has been designated as environmentally sensitive land with both flora and fauna, rare species, and also water flow, all of it to say that this should not be developed,” Levine Cava said.
Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said the site, located within the Everglades footprint, should not have been developed. (CNN Newsource)
Activists echoed those concerns while also highlighting the area’s Indigenous significance.
This is Miccosukee land.”
The Miccosukees have stood in solidarity with all of the families of the detainees for months, and the land should go back to them,” Arianne, an activist in Ochopee, told WSVN.
“This is Miccosukee land. The Miccosukees have stood in solidarity with all of the families of the detainees for months, and the land should go back to them,” said Arianne, an activist in Ochopee. (CNN Newsource)
Those reactions come as state officials confirm the facility now sits empty.
Governor Ron DeSantis announced Thursday that all detainees have been moved to other locations and the state-run immigration center is shutting down, emphasizing it was always meant to be temporary.
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Governor Ron DeSantis announced Thursday that all detainees have been moved to other locations and the state-run immigration center is shutting down, emphasizing it was always meant to be temporary. (CNN Newsource)
“I said from the beginning that this was an emergency solution that would be temporary, that once DHS had the wherewithal to be able to handle these illegal aliens, particularly the criminal illegal aliens, that they would be able to do so, and we would still help,” DeSantis said.
But in terms of us managing this facility, to the minute that that’s no longer needed, then we obviously would break down the facility.”
The governor added Florida will continue assisting with federal immigration enforcement through programs like 287(g), even as the state steps away from directly operating the site.
The detention center opened last July on a training airport roughly halfway between Miami and Naples. It cost hundreds of millions of dollars to maintain and quickly became a flashpoint in the immigration debate.
Critics frequently denounced what they described as unsanitary and inhumane conditions at the center during its operation, while state officials maintained it served a necessary role.
With all detainees transferred and operations now halted, the closure marks the end of a short-lived but highly contentious chapter in Florida’s immigration enforcement efforts.