President Trump, left, and former Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, front, joined Florida officials in a July 2025 tour of Alligator Alcatraz.
Litigation continues over allegations that Alligator Alcatraz detainees in the Florida Everglades were denied access to lawyers in violation of the First Amendment – despite the recently announced closure of the facility.
DeSantis
Gov. Ron DeSantis said last month that the detention facility operated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) had been shuttered after housing suspected illegal immigrants for about a year. The facility supported the deportation of thousands of criminal aliens, according to the governor.
But ACLU attorneys argued their clients were consistently denied due process while being housed in the remote facility in Ochopee.
While state and federal defendants in the ACLU case argued in federal court in the Middle District of Florida that the closure made the litigation moot, ACLU attorneys said the defendants, including the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Florida Division of Emergency Management, have failed to provide adequate evidence that Alligator Alcatraz has been closed permanently.
“Plaintiffs, like state defendants, do not wish to waste judicial resources by continuing to litigate a moot case,” a response by ACLU attorneys filed in federal court last week states. “But plaintiffs and the court need actual evidence that the facility is permanently closed before this court can determine whether the claims of the detainee class – which includes all future detainees at the facility – have become moot.”
The ACLU attorneys criticized the state defendants for relying on DeSantis’ remarks at a June 25 press conference, when the governor said the odds of Alligator Alcatraz reopening were “negligible.”
“Openly admitting during a press conference that there is a chance, even if small, of resuming challenged conduct does not meet the ‘unambiguously terminated’ standard of the Eleventh Circuit (Court of Appeals),” the plaintiffs’ attorneys said.
Because DeSantis has also pointed out that the facility was built in only 10 days, Florida state officials could re-establish it at any time, according to the plaintiffs. In addition, the defendants have offered conflicting rationales about why Alligator Alcatraz was closed, such as the approach of hurricane season.
“If this court dismisses this case as moot, defendants may reopen the facility and resume violating plaintiffs’ constitutional rights, unbound by the preliminary injunction,” the ACLU attorneys said.
In response to a request for comment by The Florida Record, a DHS spokesperson stressed that ICE no longer has any detainees at Alligator Alcatraz.
“Florida continues to be a valuable partner in advancing President Trump’s immigration agenda, and DHS appreciates their support,” the spokesperson said in an email. “DHS continuously evaluates detention needs and requirements to ensure they meet the latest operational requirements.”
The ACLU of Florida reported in June that the DeSantis administration spent more than $1 billion in state funds to build the facility. The Trump administration began sending reimbursements to Florida for use of the facility in May, when Florida emergency management officials received a check for $58 million.
“Regarding reimbursement, DHS reviews reimbursement requests for grant funding to ensure costs are allowable and validated expenses that are eligible for reimbursement prior to releasing funding,” the DHS spokesperson said.
The detention facility has also been the target of a lawsuit filed by environmental groups, including the Center for Biological Diversity, accusing officials of failing to perform an environmental impact analysis as required by law before green-lighting the facility.
