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2h ago

Florida Says Everglades Detention Site Could Empty Within Days as State Seeks Stay of Shutdown Order

A verified email from the state’s emergency director says the population may drop to zero within days despite a court-ordered 60-day wind-down now under appeal.

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FILE - Work progresses on a new migrant detention facility dubbed "Alligator Alcatraz," at Dade-Collier Training and Transition facility in the Florida Everglades, on July 4, 2025, in Ochopee, Fla. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell, File)
Workers install a permanent Alligator Alcatraz sign, in Collier County, Florida, on July 3, 2025. (Al Diaz/Miami Herald/TNS)
(L/R) US President Donald Trump, alongside Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, speaks to reporters after arriving at Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport in Ochopee, Florida, on July 1, 2025. President Trump is visiting a migrant detention center in a reptile-infested Florida swamp dubbed "Alligator Alcatraz." Trump will attend the opening of the 5,000-bed facility -- located at an abandoned airfield in the Everglades wetlands -- part of his expansion of deportations of undocumented migrants, his spokeswoman said. (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP) (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)

Overview

  • A Aug. 22 email from Kevin Guthrie, Florida’s emergency management chief, said the site was likely to be down to zero detainees within days, a message confirmed to the Associated Press.
  • U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams ordered a 60-day wind-down, barred new admissions, halted construction, and required the removal of lighting, fencing, and generators once the population declines.
  • Florida filed a 52-page motion at the 11th Circuit to stay the injunction and also sought a stay from Judge Williams, who had not ruled as of Wednesday.
  • The federal government asked the judge to pause her order citing overcrowding at other facilities, while environmental groups and the Miccosukee Tribe opposed, noting Florida is preparing an alternate site in north Florida.
  • The Everglades facility opened July 1 with capacity around 3,000 and more than $245 million in state contracts, drawing lawsuits over environmental compliance, detainee access and conditions, and contractor vetting, with reports of transfers and some deportations.