Judge orders closure of Trump’s Alligator Alcatraz, halts prisoner arrivals – National
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A U.S. federal judge is ordering the Trump administration to pull back on its expansion of Alligator Alcatraz and wind down operations of the Florida prison it built to house immigrants.
The detention centre sits in the Florida Everglades, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and violates environmental laws put in place to protect the area, U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams ruled on Thursday.
Williams’ injunction ratified a pause she had ordered two weeks ago to allow witnesses to testify in a hearing that would determine whether construction should end.
Alligator Alcatraz sign at the entrance to the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport on July 10, 2025 in Ochopee, Florida. The site is the location of the state-managed immigration detention facility in the Florida Everglades.
Joe Raedle / Getty Images
Her decision prompted an appeal from the state of Florida, which was filed shortly after the ruling was issued.
In response, Alex Lanfranconi, a spokesperson for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, wrote on X, “The deportations will continue until morale improves.”
Williams wrote that she expects to see the population of the prison fall over the next 60 days as detainees are transferred to other facilities. She also said that no additional prisoners can be brought to or detained on the property. Once the current prisoners are relocated, fencing, lighting and generators should be removed, she added.
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The order does not prohibit modification or repairs to existing facilities, “which are solely for the purpose of increasing safety or mitigating environmental or other risks at the site,” the ruling continued.
In the 82-page order, Williams said officials failed to sufficiently explain why the facility needed to be located in the heart of the Florida Everglades.
“What is apparent, however, is that in their haste to construct the detention camp, the State did not consider alternative locations,” Williams said, adding that her order gave authorities ample time to halt operations so that all necessary environmental assessments could be completed.
She also noted the efforts Florida lawmakers have made over 75 years to preserve the Everglades National Park.
“… 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,” Williams wrote.
“This order does nothing more than uphold the basic requirements of legislation designed to fulfill those promises,” she added.
U.S. President Donald Trump, during a tour of the prison last month, said he “couldn’t care less” that the facility was controversial, noting it would soon “handle the most menacing migrants” and “some of the most vicious people on the planet.”
He praised its name, saying it was “very appropriate because I looked outside and that’s not a place I want to go hiking anytime soon,” and likened its structure to the “real” Alcatraz federal prison in San Francisco Bay, which has been out of operation since 1963.
The president also joked that prisoners who attempted to escape would need to learn how to dodge alligators.
The facility is located on an isolated airfield about 72 kilometres west of downtown Miami and is surrounded by swamps filled with mosquitoes, pythons and alligators. Supporters say the references to the notorious Alcatraz prison — which operated from 1934 to 1963 — and the harshness of the conditions at the facility are meant to be a deterrent.
Earlier this month, U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem announced the opening of a new migrant detention centre, coined the Speedway Slammer, that will house 1,000 inmates detained as part of Trump’s immigration crackdown.
On Tuesday, Nebraska Republican Gov. Jim Pillen announced plans to open a 280-bed detention facility in his state, nicknamed the “Cornhusker Clink,” on the grounds of the Work Ethic Camp in McCook, Neb. Homeland Security also posted the announcement on X, alongside an image of several ears of corn wearing ICE hats.
Noem commended Pillen in a separate statement for his cooperation.
“Thanks to Governor Pillen for his partnership to help remove the worst of the worst out of our country. If you are in America illegally, you could find yourself in Nebraska’s Cornhusker Clink. Avoid arrest and self-deport now using the CBP Home App,” she said.
— With files from The Associated Press and Global News Staff
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