Trump's Alligator Alcatraz is about to be shut down, leaked email suggests
Ochopee, Florida - The notorious immigration detention camp in Florida dubbed Alligator Alcatraz will soon be completely emptied out, according to a new report.
An email exchange leaked to the Associated Press reveals that Florida officials expect Alligator Alcatraz to be completely empty within days, even as Floridian Governor Ron DeSantis fights a federal judge's order.
In an email sent by Florida Division of Emergency Management Executive Director Kevin Guthrie, he stated that "we are probably going to be down to 0 individuals within a few days."
South Florida Rabbi Mario Rojzman, who was in touch with Guthrie over providing chaplaincy services to the facility and was the recipient of the email, confirmed the messages were genuine.
District Judge Kathleen Williams last week ordered that the detention center, nicknamed Alligator Alcatraz due to its location in the Floridian Everglades, be dismantled within 60 days due to environmental concerns.
Environmental groups had brought a lawsuit arguing that the center itself threatens the Everglades ecosystem and was built without an environmental impact study, which is required by law.
Williams also ordered that no additional people be transferred to and detained at Alligator Alcatraz over the period in which it is deconstructed.
The dismantling of the facility has already started, including the removal of generators, fencing, and lights.
The center cost the Floridian government an estimated $245 million of taxpayer money and was touted as the future of immigration detention.
It has been compared to a concentration camp, with detainees kept in small, crowded cages that have been referred to as "chicken coups."
"They don't even treat animals like this – this is like torture," Cuban detainee Luis Gonzalez told AFP, amid horrific reports of detainees' brutal treatment by guards, physical abuse, and suicide attempts.
Cover photo: AFP/Alon Skuy/Getty Images