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Alligator Alcatraz Faces Overlapping Lawsuits and Funding Irregularities

Revelations of Florida’s redirection of disaster-relief funds coupled with vanishing public procurement records have intensified calls to halt operations at the Everglades detention center.

Workers install a sign reading "Alligator Alcatraz" at the entrance to a new migrant detention facility at Dade-Collier Training and Transition facility, Thursday, July 3, 2025, in Ochopee, Fla. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
Work progressed on a new migrant detention facility dubbed "Alligator Alcatraz," at Dade-Collier Training and Transition facility in the Florida Everglades, Friday, July 4, 2025, in Ochopee, Fla. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
President Donald Trump, Gov. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, and others, tour "Alligator Alcatraz," a new migrant detention facility at Dade-Collier Training and Transition facility, Tuesday, July 1, 2025, in Ochopee, Fla. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Workers sit alongside trailers as work progresses on a new migrant detention center dubbed "Alligator Alcatraz," at Dade-Collier Training and Transition facility in the Florida Everglades, Friday, July 4, 2025, in Ochopee, Fla. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

Overview

  • A class-action suit filed by the ACLU and Americans for Immigrant Justice alleges detainees are denied confidential attorney access and basic due-process rights at the remote Everglades facility.
  • Environmental groups have sued under the National Environmental Policy Act and Endangered Species Act, arguing the camp’s breakneck construction bypassed required reviews and threatens protected wetlands.
  • A Talking Points Memo analysis found nearly $20 million in disaster-preparedness contracts were diverted to build and staff the camp, with more than a dozen procurement records later removed from the state’s public database.
  • Emails obtained by the Associated Press reveal Collier County officials remained unaware of the detention center plans even as state crews seized the Dade-Collier airstrip and began site work under an emergency executive order.
  • Officials confirmed a 15-year-old undocumented minor was held at the facility despite state and federal assurances it housed only adults.