(NewsNation) — The Florida migrant detention center known as “Alligator Alcatraz” must continue moving toward shutting down, a federal judge ruled late Wednesday, which could cost state taxpayers more than $218 million.
The Department of Homeland Security told NewsNation on Thursday it is complying with U.S. Judge Kathleen Williams’ ruling but will fight “tooth and nail” to keep removing “the worst of the worst” of migrant criminals off the streets despite the judge’s ruling this week.
Williams denied requests by the Florida Division of Emergency Management to move away from her previous decision that the detention center, which was constructed and opened in less than two weeks, would begin to shut down indefinitely.
The Associated Press, citing court filings, reported Thursday that shutting the facility down would cost the state between $15 million and $20 million immediately. If operations were permitted to continue and the facility were to reopen, taxpayers could be on the hook for an additional $15 million to $20 million.
The report indicated that the state agency would lose the $218 million it invested to construct the facility, which is built near an abandoned airstrip that is used for deportations. The state had already invested more than $245 million in contracts to build and operate the detention center.
State officials said that the tent facility would have an annual operating budget of around $245 million.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said that the Florida facility would serve as a blueprint for others that would open in Republican-led states. Since its opening, Florida has opened a second facility, dubbed the “Deportation Depot,” and similar centers have either opened or been planned in Indiana, Texas and Nebraska.
In mid-August, NewsNation reported that the “Alligator Alcatraz” had about 900 detainees and that daily deportation flights were taking place from the nearby airstrip. The Indiana facility, which Department of Homeland Security officials dubbed “The Speedway Slammer,” would house around 1,000 migrant detainees, while the Fort Bliss center, which officials called the “Lonestar Lockup,” would serve as the nation’s largest detention facility with capacity for about 5,000 detainees.
Since then, plans were announced for another 280-bed detention facility in Nebraska, which officials dubbed “The Cornhusker Clink,” as DHS officials continue to expand plans for more detention centers across the United States.
On Thursday, a DHS senior official told NewsNation that the agency is moving detainees from “Alligator Alcatraz” to other facilities. It spokesperson did not respond to a question about how many detainees remain at the facility.
Since opening, “Alligator Alcatraz” has garnered plenty of complaints. In addition to reports of sub-standard detention conditions and complaints that detainees did not have proper access to legal representation, environmental concerns have also plagued the center.
Last week, Williams sided with environmental groups and the Miccosukee Tribe that the state and federal defendants didn’t follow federal law requiring an environmental review for the sensitive wetlands nearby, the AP reported.
Homeland Security officials argued in court filings this week that federal environmental laws don’t apply to states like Florida, which is not using federal funding to operate the facility. The Associated Press, citing an email exchange between the state emergency management agency and a rabbi who had inquired about providing chaplaincy services to detainees, reported that the official stated that the facility’s population would be down to zero within days.
In its statement to NewsNation on Thursday, DHS referred to Williams as “an activist judge (who) doesn’t care about the invasion of our country facilitated by the Biden administration.
“But the American people do,” the DHS official told NewsNation. “We have the law, the facts, and common sense on our side.”
The Associated Press contributed reporting to this story