“Alligator Alcatraz”: Judge orders dismantling

The detention center, located on an abandoned airfield in the middle of the Everglades wetlands – a protected area – had been hastily built in June. It was one of the major symbols of US President Donald Trump’s repressive immigration policy.

This court decision stems from a complaint filed in June by two associations: “Friends of the Everglades” and “Center for Biological Diversity”. They accused the government of having built the center without first carrying out environmental impact studies.

The Miccosukee tribe of Florida had joined the complaint, claiming that discharges from the center risked polluting their territory, located a few kilometers downstream, and threatened plants used for ceremonial and medicinal purposes.

Judge Kathleen Williams gave the Trump administration sixty days to remove all major installations from the site, including fences, lighting, electrical generators and sewage disposal systems, reports The Wall Street Journal.

She also prohibited bringing any new person onto the site who was not already detained there at the time this order took effect.

In early August, the judge had already ordered the temporary suspension of all new construction in the center.

Since its opening, many people have complained about the poor conditions at the “alligator Alcatraz”. “Even an animal wouldn’t be treated like this It’s torture,” Luis Gonzales told AFP by telephone from the center.

The latter claimed that his cell was rarely cleaned and that he shared it with around thirty people. The temperature was scorching during the day and freezing at night, Gonzales reported.