The Government of Florida announced Friday that it will appeal the court ruling that orders the closure, within 60 days, of the immigration detention center known as ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ (Alcatraz of the Alligators), and warned that deportations will continue.
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier’s office criticized Judge Kathleen Williams of the Southern District of Florida, who on Thursday set a two-month deadline to dismantle the site, west of Miami, where she barred more migrants from entering, although the center will remain operational until then.
“Once again, she is overstepping her authority, and we will appeal this illegal decision,” commented Jeremy Redfern, the DA’s Communications Director, on his social media.
Meanwhile, the team of Florida’s governor, Republican Ron DeSantis, affirmed that deportations will continue from the site, which opened on July 3 at an abandoned airport in the middle of the Everglades, a natural wetlands area surrounded by alligators, crocodiles, snakes and panthers.
“Deportations will continue until morale improves,” said Alex Lanfranconi, the governor’s communications director.
Floridian officials have questioned the legitimacy of the judge, nominated by former Democratic President Barack Obama (2009-2017), citing that another judge on Tuesday dismissed part of another lawsuit by immigration lawyers over access to defense and communication for migrant detainees at ‘Alligator Alcatraz’.
Williams ruled partially in favor of the environmental groups Friends of The Everglades and Center for Biological Diversity, as well as the Miccosukee Tribe, which demanded the complete and immediate closure of the site for damaging the Everglades, a natural area with 36 endangered endemic species such as panthers, storks, alligators and crocodiles.
The order prohibits installing any additional infrastructure such as tents, dormitories, buildings or offices, as well as paving, excavating or fencing the site, in addition to preventing “bringing any additional persons to the site who were not already detained at the site at the time of the order.”
There are 336 migrants left at the center, according to a report Thursday by Democratic Congressman Maxwell Frost, representative of Orlando, after touring the site, where the Mexican consul in Miami, Rutilio Escandón, counted 78 Mexicans.
‘Alligator Alcatraz’ is the most emblematic center of the immigration policy of President Donald Trump, in whose administration the number of people in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody has risen by 49% since he took office in January, with 55,568 detainees in the first half of July, according to information from EFE.
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