Alligator Alcatraz is now gone, and all that’s left is empty tarmac, Florida officials told a federal judge, saying the last immigration detainees left in mid-June and all operations have ceased at the detention center the state built in the Everglades.
The tent city that had been erected at an airport has been fully removed, Edward Vincent, a supervisor at the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, told the court on Monday.
“The facility no longer exists, and there are no detainees on-site,” he said in a filing.
Florida had constructed the center at the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport last summer to help President Trump with his push for more space to hold illegal immigrants.
Thanks to an infusion of cash, ICE no longer has a detention bed crunch and doesn’t need Florida’s help anymore, officials said.
Both the fact that Florida was helping detain migrants and its decision to place the facility in the environmentally sensitive Everglades had drawn criticism and lawsuits.
Monday’s filing came in one of those lawsuits.
Florida had told the judge the case was now moot with the closing of the facility, but the judge had demanded proof.
Mr. Vincent, in his filing, provided aerial photos of empty asphalt where the tents had been.
The facility opened a year ago, with Mr. Trump personally visiting and praising Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis — a one-time political rival — for helping the national deportation push.
Other GOP-led states followed suit, offering their own facilities to Mr. Trump.
Florida’s Everglades location was a particular draw for Mr. Trump, who suggested the dangerous wildlife surrounding the facility would be a deterrent to any escape attempts. That helped it earn the nickname Alligator Alcatraz.
