DeSantis Says 'Alligator Alcatraz' Was Temporary As Florida, DHS Discuss Wind-Down
DeSantis said the Ochopee detention camp was intended to be temporary as Florida and DHS discuss winding it down amid high costs, reimbursement disputes and legal challenges.
ABC News'Alligator Alcatraz' immigration detention center was meant to be temporary: DeSantis
Associated PressDeSantis says 'Alligator Alcatraz' immigration detention center always was meant to be temporary
Washington TimesDeSantis says ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ immigration detention center always was meant to be temporary
Straight Arrow NewsFlorida, DHS could close ‘Alligator Alcatraz.’ DeSantis says it ‘served its purpose’
Overview
Gov. Ron DeSantis said the Ochopee detention center known as 'Alligator Alcatraz' was always meant to be temporary and that 'at some point, we will, of course, break it down.'
Department of Homeland Security officials have not said they want the facility closed, and the department denied on Thursday that it was urging Florida to cease operations.
Civil and environmental groups sued over detainee access to lawyers and alleged constitutional violations, and Friends of the Everglades, Center for Biological Diversity and the Miccosukee Tribe sued DHS on June 27 over environmental review.
Florida has spent more than $1 million a day to run the facility.
DeSantis said the facility 'served its purpose' after aiding in detaining roughly 2,200 to over 21,000 unauthorized immigrants and that he does not know when a wind-down could occur if DHS can house detainees elsewhere.
Analysis
Center-leaning sources frame the Ochopee facility as costly, controversial, and potentially unlawful by foregrounding critical voices (ACLU, environmental groups, Florida Policy Institute), recurring loaded labels like “Alligator Alcatraz,” highlighting fluctuating multimillion-dollar cost estimates, and juxtaposing DeSantis’ brief defenses with legal and environmental challenges to emphasize impropriety and fiscal waste.