Florida has received a substantial reimbursement of $608 million for the construction and operation of its controversial immigration detention centre in the Everglades, federal officials confirmed on Friday. However, this payment now leaves the facility, dubbed ‘Alligator Alcatraz’, vulnerable to a second closure order.
The US Department of Homeland Security confirmed the state was awarded its full reimbursement request via email. Yet, this financial confirmation coincides with a federal judge’s injunction issued in August, which could force Florida to cease operations at the remote site once more.
The Miami judge sided with environmental groups who had successfully argued that the site lacked a proper environmental review before its conversion into a detention centre. Consequently, Florida was granted a two-month period to wind down its operations.
The judge’s injunction, however, was put on hold for the time being by an appellate court panel in Atlanta that said the state-run facility didn’t need to undergo a federally required environmental impact study because Florida had yet to receive federal money for the project.
“If the federal defendants ultimately decide to approve that request and reimburse Florida for its expenditures related to the facility, they may need to first conduct an EIS (environmental impact statement),” the three-judge appellate court panel wrote last month.
The appellate panel decision allowed the detention center to stay open and put a stop to wind-down efforts.
President Donald Trump toured the facility in July and suggested it could be a model for future lockups nationwide as his administration pushes to expand the infrastructure needed to increase deportations.
Environmental groups that had sued the federal and state governments said the confirmation of the reimbursement showed that the Florida-built facility was a federal project “from the jump.”
“This is a federal project being built with federal funds that’s required by federal law to go through a complete environmental review,” Elise Bennett, Florida and Caribbean director at the Center for Biological Diversity, said in a statement. “We’ll do everything we can to stop this lawless, destructive and wasteful debacle.”
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