The Florida Everglades immigration detention center dubbed the “Alligator Alcatraz,” which Governor Ron DeSantis says “made the state of Florida safer,” has now been officially closed after “serving its purpose.”
The governor said at a news conference at the facility Thursday that the temporary facility, which opened in July last year and has helped deport 21,000 illegal aliens, was always meant to be temporary until a permanent center could be secured.
“There are zero prisoners in it today,” he said. “It has helped to get many dangerous people off the street and get them out of not only the state of Florida but the United States.”
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) now has the ability to handle detainees at other facilities. But that didn’t happen last year, and the state stepped in to fill the facility “gap” created by the Trump administration’s mass roundup of criminal illegal aliens, many of whom came to the country during the Biden administration.
“There is no doubt that this mission has made the state of Florida safer,” DeSantis said. “There is no doubt that releasing some of these individuals would have posed a clear and present danger to the well-being of Floridians up and down the Florida peninsula.”
DeSantis said he would continue to “support this vital mission of immigration enforcement” after the facility closes, including honoring agreements with the federal government to cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
The facility was described as safe and humane by Trump administration officials, but condemned by political opponents and civil rights groups.
Immigration advocates and liberal news outlets like the Daily Beast described the large tents as unsafe and inhumane to hold people.
According For leftist outlet:
A damning report by Amnesty International documented “delays in entry procedures, overcrowding in temporary processing areas, inadequate and inaccessible medical care, dangerous disciplinary practices including the use of prolonged solitary confinement, and challenges in access to legal representation and due process” at Alligator Alcatraz.
According to the Associated Press report, detainees at the facility have spoken about their difficulty reaching lawyers and described “and poor physical conditions, including worms in the food, no running water in toilets, floors filled with fecal waste, and mosquitoes and other insects everywhere.”
The tents contained bunk beds surrounded by chain-link cages.
White House border czar Tom Homan said at a Thursday news conference that Florida is playing an important role with other detention centers and an increasing role in helping immigration enforcement.
“Governor DeSantis has done a good job and will continue to do what he’s doing to help us make this country safe again,” Homan said. “It’s not the end of the relationship. It’s a continuation.”
Breitbart contributor Lowell Cafeil is a best-selling author of Los Angeles crime novels below the line and nine other crime novels and non-fiction titles. Look lovellcauffiel.com For more information.
