“Alligator Alcatraz” closure could cost Florida taxpayers $218M

Florida taxpayers could lose nearly all of the million the state poured into its controversial Everglades detention center after a federal judge upheld her order shutting it down The facility which has been dubbed Alligator Alcatraz was speedily converted from a remote training airport into a sprawling detention complex State officers opened it at the beginning of July as part of the Republican Party s push to expand immigration enforcement and deportations But U S District Judge Kathleen Williams ruled earlier this month that the state and federal administration failed to follow environmental laws to protect the surrounding land an order she upheld late on Wednesday The project creates irreparable harm in the form of habitat loss and increased mortality to endangered species in the area Williams wrote in her August order Related Ex- Alligator Alcatraz worker details inhumane cure Shutting down the facility will cost the state million promptly to dismantle structures and another million if Florida is later allowed to reopen it according to the state s court filings The Florida Division of Crisis Management has already spent largest part of the million making the airport suitable as a detention center according to the filings State contracts for construction and operation topped million by late July The center has faced multiple legal challenges including lawsuits from civil rights groups alleging detainees were not given necessary access to the legal system as well as those from the Miccosukee Tribe and environmental organizations The detention center has also come under heavy scrutiny for its reportedly inhumane conditions for the detainees including food contamination and extreme temperatures Based on publicly available contract information The Associated Press estimated the state allocated million for the bathrooms Detainees and advocates have described toilets that don t flush flooding floors with fecal waste although executives dispute such descriptions according to a CNN assessment Williams dismissed alleges that closing the facility would undermine federal immigration enforcement and Homeland Measure bureaucrats validated Thursday that they are complying with the order Meanwhile Florida Gov Ron DeSantis administration is preparing a second detention center dubbed Deportation Depot at a state prison in north Florida For now Alligator Alcatraz stands as a costly symbol of the state s aggressive immigration agenda Read more about this topic Alligator Alcatraz guards detainees say conditions are deteriorating Alligator Alcatraz American history from the dark side ICE s billion windfall Trump s mass deportation force set to receive military-level funding The post Alligator Alcatraz closure could cost Florida taxpayers M appeared first on Salon com