TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — A top Florida official says the controversial state-run immigration detention facility in the Everglades will likely be empty in a matter of days, even as Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration and the federal government fight a judge’s order to shutter the facility dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz” by late October. That’s according to an email exchange shared with The Associated Press.

In a message sent to South Florida Rabbi Mario Rojzman on Aug. 22 related to providing chaplaincy services at the facility, Florida Division of Emergency Management Executive Director Kevin Guthrie said “we are probably going to be down to 0 individuals within a few days.” Rojzman, and the executive assistant who sent the original email to Guthrie, both confirmed the veracity of the messages to the AP.

A spokesperson for Guthrie, whose agency has overseen the construction and operation of the site, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

News that the last detainee at “Alligator Alcatraz” could leave the facility within days came less than a week after a federal judge in Miami ordered the detention center to wind down operations, with the last detainee needing to be out within 60 days. The state of Florida appealed the decision, and the federal government asked U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams to put her order on hold pending the appeal, saying that the Everglades facility’s thousands of beds were badly needed since detention facilities in Florida were overcrowded.

  • foggy@lemmy.world
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    2 days ago

    Literally every inmate should sue the state and not settle for a class action.

    Individually.

  • Phoenixz@lemmy.ca
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    Well that was a huge waste of tax dollars

    And human dignity

    And human suffering

    And…

    • Pappabosley@lemmy.world
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      Not a waste, there’s tax dollars were funnelled to a local millionaire or billionaire through a “legitimate” purchase of goods and services. You don’t really think it would be that expensive to put up marquees in a swamp?

      • rothaine@lemmy.zip
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        Not just any local millionaire or billionaire! Ron DeSantis’s friends and donors. Yayyy

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        Well given how many castles sunk into swamps? I’m gonna presume swamps are a bitch to work with in general, but this is also a Trump project meaning 2 bucks worth of chainlink was marked up 500 percent.

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      You are missing the point, and cruelty is the point. The cons got to hurt people AND own the libz!

      There was nothing at all wasted as far as they are concerned. I’m sure if you asked some of them, they’d say it was worth every single penny and they’d gladly do it all again. Even if they have to skip a few meals, don’t have health care, or a job, etc…

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    the facility dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz”

    I’m not familiar…do they mean Alligator Auschwitz?

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        GEO Group - George Zoley and his son Chris

        Every f***ing American should know their names and they don’t and they get to live in comfort because of it.

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          Company that invests in private prisons. Both times trump was elected, their stock doubled within the following weeks/months. Jesus that’s fucked

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        Ya, including some Canadians for feck’s sake.

        Search for… Canadian Company Staffing Alligator Alcatraz… You’ll find Gardaworld

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        I don’t know what the average detainment period has been but they somehow managed to deport immigrants to El Salvador in a few days, but no doubt they’ve been holding others for weeks without a hearing or any kind of scheduled date for deportation.

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      The administration’s claims that it’s 250-450 million USD fronted by Florida, and then backfilled by FEMA Shelter and Services Program funds.

      It would be interesting to see how many thousands they paid per night to imprison each person here.

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        One of the other versions of this same thing, I think the one in Texas, they are paying $300k per tent in building the facility. This entire thing reeks of manufacturing an opportunity to hand inflated government contracts to selected individuals

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        Iirc (I’m not going to bother to look it up), the one in Texas is supposed to be the biggest and they’re aiming for 5000 people there. So let’s say Florida is also aimed to be maxed out at 5000, because it’s a nice round number.

        And let’s use your lower estimate of 250,000,000. That’s $50,000 per person, just to house them for a couple of months, and doesn’t include the costs to capture and transport the victims to the secondary location.

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    Keep it preserved. You’ll need a place where you can store the Trumpists when this is over.

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    Could have built a lot of free/affordable housing with all the money they dumped on this racist PR stunt, actually going to work on that unhoused crisis. but nah. Brilliant leadership from the fash regime once again.

  • CharlesDarwin@lemmy.world
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    All that trash that was made and sold should be treated the same way that Nazi stuff is treated in Germany.

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    Lol so now it’s alligator Alcatraz because it’s shut down, like Alcatraz, and surrounded by gators.

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    I’m glad it’s being shut down, especially since my first thought was that they were requesting chaplain services because they were going to kill all the prisoners.

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        I don’t know anything here but the fact that a concentration camp is apparently being shut down. that is an objectively good thing if true. I’m trying not to let best be the enemy of good here. don’t fuck up my cope i need this.