Email Shows Florida’s 3,000-Bed ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ To Empty In Days Amid Judge’s Shutdown Order

A Florida emergency management official said in an Aug. 22 email that the Everglades immigration detention site dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz” would likely be empty within days, even as the state and federal government appeal a federal judge’s order to wind down the facility within 60 days. The rapidly built, 3,000-bed camp once held nearly 1,000 people; only a few hundred reportedly remain as detainees are deported or transferred. Environmental groups and the Miccosukee Tribe won an injunction citing harm to sensitive wetlands, while civil rights attorneys reported severe sanitation and due-process issues. The swift depopulation appears to undercut claims that the site is essential to enforcement operations.