MIAMI, FL — A federal judge in Miami has ordered the closure of the Trump administration’s controversial immigration detention facility, nicknamed “Alligator Alcatraz,” citing both humanitarian abuses and environmental destruction.
In a ruling late Thursday, U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams gave officials 60 days to shut down the facility and prohibited the transfer of any additional detainees during that period. The decision builds on a temporary restraining order she issued earlier this month halting further construction at the site.
The sprawling tent compound, hurriedly erected in June on a disused airfield deep in the Florida Everglades, has drawn condemnation for harsh living conditions, denial of due process, and ecological harm. In her 82-page opinion, Williams wrote that the camp inflicted “severe and irreparable damage” on the fragile wetlands and endangered species that inhabit the national preserve.
She reminded officials that similar development proposals at the site—including a massive tourist airport rejected in the 1960s—were blocked over environmental concerns. “Every Florida governor, every senator, and countless political leaders have pledged support for the protection and restoration of the Everglades,” Williams wrote. “This order enforces the basic requirements of legislation created to keep those promises.”
Currently housing about 700 detainees, down from a high of 1,400, the facility must be fully dismantled once the deadline expires, including fencing, generators, and other detention infrastructure.
The decision is being hailed as a significant victory for environmental advocates and a Native American tribe that filed suit against state and federal agencies. “This is a landmark victory for the Everglades and for Americans who believe this wilderness should be protected, not exploited,” said Eve Samples, executive director of Friends of the Everglades.
The Trump administration had touted the camp as a holding center for “the most vicious people on the planet,” though many held there had no criminal record. Its closure is viewed as a setback to the administration’s immigration enforcement agenda.
Neither the Florida Department of Emergency Management, which operates the site for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), nor the Department of Homeland Security offered immediate comment. State attorneys, however, have already signaled their intent to appeal.
According to the Miami Herald, hundreds of detainees were quietly relocated to other immigration jails last weekend in anticipation of the ruling. Meanwhile, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has announced plans to open a separate immigration detention center at a shuttered prison near Gainesville to address capacity needs.
