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Tag: Florida immigrant detention center

  • ‘Dragging its feet’: ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ appeal paused due to government shutdown

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    Credit: Photo by Dave Decker

    Environmental groups’ request that a federal court shutter the “Alligator Alcatraz” detention center was paused Wednesday because of the government shutdown.

    Led by the non-profit Friends of the Everglades, a coalition of activists had asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit to reconsider its September decision to keep open the migrant detention center, located in the heart of the Everglades, despite environmental concerns.

    But the court on Wednesday agreed with the Department of Homeland Security that the case should be paused until government attorneys can work again.

    “The motion to stay the appeal is granted. The movant is directed to file a notice with the court when the purpose for the stay is obviated,” the two-sentence order reads.

    Although this comes just weeks after the court expedited the appeal and scheduled oral arguments for January, the federal government’s shutdown on Sept. 30 set off a cascade of missed pay, furloughed workers, and in-limbo cases.

    So, on Oct. 10, government attorneys, noting that many Justice Department lawyers are banned from working until the government comes online again, asked for a pause on the case until “DOJ attorneys are permitted to resume their usual civil litigation functions.”

    How did we get here?

    The state created the sprawling, 3,000-bed facility atop the seldom-used Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport in Big Cypress National Park, drawing scrutiny from Democrats, immigration groups, and environmental organizations since its July 1 opening.

    Friends of the Everglades, the Center for Biodiversity, and the Miccosukee Tribe filed suit over the summer alleging the detention center violates federal environmental laws. A district judge agreed, ordering Florida to shut down the center by September’s end. But a federal three-judge panel on Sept. 4 reversed, noting that because the site had not received federal dollars, and was entirely state-run, federal environmental regulations don’t apply.

    A week later, DHS and Florida Emergency Management Director Kevin Guthrie revealed that Florida had applied for federal reimbursement — though Friends of the Everglades believes the request was made earlier. On Sept. 30, the state received more than $608 million to pay for the construction, transportation, and equipment costs of the facility

    The plaintiffs soon after appealed, asking the Eleventh Circuit to reconsider. When DHS pointed out that some government staff couldn’t work during the shutdown, Friends of the Everglades called the situation “regrettable” but argued it didn’t outweigh the environment “harms” caused by dragging out the case.

    “An indefinite stay in this case … would cause Plaintiffs ongoing and irreversible harm where the federal action being challenged — the construction and operation of an immigration detention center in the Everglades that imperils sensitive wetlands, endangered Species, and communities in the area — would continue during the indefinite stay period,” the attorneys wrote.

    When the Eleventh Circuit released its order against them, Eve Samples, executive director of the Friends of the Everglades, put out a statement calling the move a ruse to avoid accountability.

    “There’s a growing mountain of evidence that Alligator Alcatraz was built in violation of the National Environmental Policy Act,” Samples said. “Meanwhile, the government is dragging its feet in court to dodge accountability — using the federal shutdown as an excuse to delay the appeal.

    “We’re more resolved than ever to keep fighting to restore the lower court’s injunction to protect the Everglades.”

    Florida Phoenix is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Contact Michael Moline for questions: info@floridaphoenix.com. Follow Florida Phoenix on Facebook and Twitter.

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    The court agreed with the Department of Homeland Security that the case should be paused until government attorneys can work again.

    ‘We must call it what it truly is: the documentation of the sexual abuse of children’

    The judge issued a stay of the lawsuit until after the Supreme Court decides whether a law prohibiting drug users having guns violates the Second Amendment.



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    Livia Caputo, Florida Phoenix
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  • Florida gets $608M grant for immigrant detention centers – Orlando Weekly

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    Credit: Photo by Dave Decker

    Florida officials received a hefty lump sum of cash from the federal government Tuesday to cover the cost of the Everglades immigration detention center dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz.”

    As reported first by WPLG, the Department of Homeland Security revealed two days after the fact that Florida had been awarded the full $608.4 million stockpile of funds within the Detention Support Grant Program, a new program housed under the Federal Emergency Management Agency designed to compensate states for detaining undocumented immigrants.

    Florida was the only applicant for the grant program, FEMA told the Florida Phoenix last month. That money will foot the construction, housing, feeding, and equipment costs spent on the Everglades center — on which the state has already spent at least $245 million — and the “Deportation Depot” facility in Baker County.

    Gov. Ron DeSantis announced in August that Florida may build a “Panhandle Pokey” in northwest Florida, which the grant would also cover.

    “Another bogus narrative bites the dust. I said all along that we would be reimbursed,” DeSantis posted on social media Thursday, hours after the news broke.

    Although the governor had vowed for months that the federal government, not state taxpayers, would pay the bill, neither he nor his office could confirm to the Florida Phoenix as of Tuesday whether the state had been reimbursed.

    FEMA had not responded to a request for comment at the time.

    What is the Detention Support Grant Program?

    The Detention Support Grant Program is an initiative by President Donald Trump’s administration to encourage states to assist with federal immigration efforts. It’s part of FEMA’s Shelter and Services Program, partially used by President Joe Biden to set up short-term shelters for migrants released by Border Patrol.

    Florida officials applied for federal reimbursement in mid-September, just days after a three-judge panel tossed a lawsuit to shut down the Everglades center over environmental concerns. Of note, the court nixed the case on the theory that the center was not subject the federal environmental laws because it had not received any federal dollars.

    More money for Florida’s anti-illegal immigration efforts first began to pour in last week. ICE announced last Friday that Florida’s state and local law enforcement would receive $38 million for equipment and transportation involved in detaining non-citizens.

    On Tuesday, the first $14 million of a $250 million state grant was awarded to law enforcement by the State Board of Immigration Enforcement, a new task force headed by DeSantis and the Cabinet.

    The reimbursement for the detention centers came on the final day for FEMA to award the DSGP grant. A day later, the federal government shut down — and is still inoperative — meaning FEMA will not process further grant requests until the government comes back online.

    Florida Phoenix is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Contact Michael Moline for questions: info@floridaphoenix.com. Follow Florida Phoenix on Facebook and Twitter.

    Subscribe to Orlando Weekly newsletters.

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    The home has seven bedrooms, 10 bathrooms, more than 9,000 square feet of living space and 101 feet of Intracoastal water frontage

    Funds will be spent on ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ — which the state has already spent at least $245M on — and ‘Deportation Depot’

    The top student debaters in the state will hoist a trophy named for the late conservative activist Charlie Kirk



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    Livia Caputo, Florida Phoenix
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  • Florida’s ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ now wants federal money

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    Credit: Photo by Dave Decker

    A federal appeals court last week ordered the “Alligator Alcatraz” detention center to remain open partially because it lacked federal ties. A week later, Florida formally applied for federal funds.

    The state’s request for reimbursement for its spending on the migrant detention facility in the heart of the Everglades came just days after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit hit pause on a federal judge’s order shutting down the center over environmental concerns. The 2-1 vote claimed that federal environmental laws don’t apply because Florida officials haven’t used any federal money.

    But less than eight days after the ruling — which stayed all aspects of the case — the Florida Division of Emergency Management asked the Federal Emergency Management Agency to be reimbursed, a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson told the Florida Phoenix in an email.

    “The State of Florida submitted an application for reimbursement to [FEMA],” the spokesperson said. Although they didn’t comment on what day the application was made nor for how much money, this confirmed Politico’s reporting that FDEM’s executive director, Kevin Guthrie, said the state had applied for federal money.

    Gov. Ron DeSantis has long promised that Florida would be reimbursed for its detention center spending, although neither his office nor FDEM ever clarified when they planned to ask for the money. Federal authorities similarly lauded the facility as a joint effort, but showed no signs of chipping in until last week.

    “Under President Trump’s leadership, we are working at turbo speed on cost-effective and innovative ways to deliver on the American people’s mandate for mass deportations of criminal illegal aliens,” the DHS official said. “These new facilities are in large part to be funded by FEMA’s Shelter and Services Program.”

    The Shelter and Services program allocated $608.4 million toward FEMA’s new Detention Support Grant Program, specifically designed to expedite Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s mass detention and deportation agenda. If FEMA approves Florida’s request, the money will be awarded by Sep. 30. The Everglades facility is estimated to cost around $450 million for the year.

    The attorney general’s office redirected questions to FDEM, which did not respond to questions about the application’s timeline.

    ‘So what do you say, judges?’

    In a 2-1 decision on Sep. 4, the Eleventh Circuit both paused federal trial judge Kathleen Williams’ order to shut down the facility and fully stayed the case. The lawsuit was brought against the state by the Miccosukee Tribe and environmental groups Friends of the Everglades and the Center for Biodiversity.

    They claimed the center, located within the Everglades and Big Cypress National Preserve, was harming the environment and violating the National Environmental Policy Act.

    But judges Barbara Lagoa and Elizabeth Branch, both Trump appointees, ruled that Williams had erred by applying the federal law to a center that had exclusively received state funds. Florida hadn’t even applied for federal reimbursement, they argued. The activists have since asked the appeals court to reconsider their decision to halt the lawsuit.

    If the judges don’t, Miami attorney Joseph DeMaria said the plaintiffs would be stymied unless they can “un-stay” the case — even though the majority opinion was largely predicated on the lack of federal ties.

    “Unless they can get the case unstuck, there’s nothing they can do,” said DeMaria, who once worked as a prosecutor with the Justice Department’s Miami Organized Crime Strike Force. [The state] played it cute by saying, ‘We haven’t formally agreed yet, so federal law doesn’t apply.’”

    He posed a rhetorical question to the appellate judges on the case: “You said that the feds haven’t agreed to pay, so there’s no jurisdiction to enforce the federal environmental law, but then almost immediately after you said that, they went and agreed to pay. So what do you say, judges?”

    Attorneys for the Friends of the Everglades declined to comment, while the governor’s office, the Miccosukee Tribe, and the Center for Biodiversity did not respond to requests for comment.

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    A federal appeals court last week ordered the center to remain open partially because it lacked federal ties

    Video footage shows a man kicking a person on the ground at the site of the formerly rainbow-colored crosswalk.

    Uthmeier said the court’s ruling was effective ‘now,’ but his spokesman said there was a 15-day window



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    Livia Caputo, Florida Phoenix
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