By Evaristo Lara
According to a newspaper report The New York Times, The Florida government is in negotiations with the Trump administration to close the migrant detention center known as Alligator Alcatraz.
In June of last year, Kristi Noem, then Secretary of Homeland Security, announced in an interview with the television network C.B.S. that The facilities where foreigners lacking factual status detained by agents of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Service (ICE) would temporarily remain until they were sent to their countries of origin, would be financed by taking part of the resources of the shelter and services program of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
“Under President Trump’s leadership, we are working flat out on cost-effective and innovative ways to fulfill the American people’s mandate to mass deport criminal illegal immigrants.
“We will expand the facilities and accommodation space in just a few days, thanks to our collaboration with Florida,” he indicated.
The announcement came a week after James Uthmeier, Florida’s general prosecutor, published a video on platform
From this, the assembly of Alligator Alcatraz began in an area that includes 39 square miles and where the Miami Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport is located.
The controversial point for the Florida government is that it has not received the money promised to keep the detention center in operation. located in the heart of the Everglades wetland, an ecological reserve in southern Florida.
At the same time, he faces legal and environmental disputes from civil organizations that accuse him of the unsanitary conditions of the detainees.
Thanks to an appeals court ruling, Alligator Alcatraz has been able to remain open, but the aforementioned news outlet indicates that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) considers it too expensive and inefficient.
In fact, Of the $608 million dollars that it had requested for its operation, it has not received any type of reimbursement during the months it has been operating, housing 1,400 detainees on average, which justifies the proposal to negotiate its closure.
Keep reading:
• Florida could end up paying the cost of the Alligator Alcatraz immigration detention center
• Court allows Alligator Alcatraz to reopen despite environmental dispute in Florida
• Amnesty International documents overcrowding and mistreatment detected at Alligator Alcatrazz
