A top US federal judge has called for US President Donald Trump’s migrant detention centre, known as ‘Alligator Alcatraz’, to be shut down within the next two months.
Formally known as the South Florida Detention Facility, Alligator Alcatraz gets its name from the large numbers of American alligators in the area, as well as the infamous maximum-security prison, Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary.
Despite the Republicans hailing it as a ‘low-cost’ facility, the Florida Everglades-based project has sparked major backlash from human rights and environmental campaigners.
Critics have previously likened the facility - which has ‘a detainee capacity of up to 3,000 people with room for additional capacity’ - to a Nazi concentration camp, with many referring to it as ‘Alligator Auchwitz’, as per The Nation.
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Its utilities, including water, sewage and power, are all provided by mobile equipment, according to the Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ office.
Shelter comes in the form of tents that are often used to house those temporarily displaced by natural disasters, like hurricanes, the office stated.
US Judge rules ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ must close
On Thursday (21 August), Kathleen Williams, a district court Judge appointed by former President Barack Obama, stated that the controversial facility was causing irreparable harm to the Florida Everglades - a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
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She gave the Trump administration just 60 days to wind down its operations.
Williams ordered that ‘all generators, gas, sewage and other waste receptors’ must be shut down, which would hugely affect the centre's ability to operate, as per BBC News.
The ruling is a preliminary injunction which will temporarily restrict operations at the site while a full-blown lawsuit brought against the centre is heard.
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Williams also cited a previously rejected plan from the 1960s, which hoped a tourist airport would be built in the Everglades.
“Since that time, every Florida governor, every Florida senator, and countless local and national political figures, including presidents, have publicly pledged their unequivocal support for the restoration, conservation, and protection of the Everglades,” she wrote.
"This order does nothing more than uphold the basic requirements of legislation designed to fulfil those promises.”
Following the 82-page ruling, which has already prompted an appeal by the state of Florida, Eve Samples, executive director of Friends of the Everglades, had her say.
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She called it a ‘landmark victory’ for the Everglades and the ‘countless Americans who believe this imperilled wilderness should be protected, not exploited’, as per the outlet.
“It sends a clear message that environmental laws must be respected by leaders at the highest levels of our government - and there are consequences for ignoring them,” Samples added.
Trump officials’ past praise of ‘Alligator Alcatraz’
The immigration detention centre has been praised by Trump, 79, for its potential to hold the ‘most menacing migrants, some of the most vicious people on the planet’ in the past.
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“It’s known as Alligator Alcatraz, which is very appropriate because I looked outside and that’s not a place I want to go hiking,” he added to the press during a livestreamed event on 1 July.
Its remote location in the middle of the Florida Everglades, a natural floodland, was designed to be ‘safe and secure’, according to DeSantis.
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“Clearly from a security perspective, if someone escapes, there’s a lot of alligators you’re going to have to contend with,” he said, as per CNN.
“No one is going anywhere once you do that. It’s as safe and secure as you can be.”
Trump added at the time that he would like to see detention centres mimicking Alligator Alcatraz in ‘many states’.
“And, you know, at some point, they might morph into a system,” he said.
When asked by ABC News if it could be the new standard for immigration facilities in the US, the president replied: “It can be. I mean, you don't always have land so beautiful and so secure.
“They have a lot of bodyguards and a lot of cops that are in the form of alligators. You don’t have to pay them so much, but I wouldn't want to run through the Everglades for long.
“It will keep people where they're supposed to be. This is a very important thing.”
Topics: Donald Trump, Politics, US News
Ella Scott