Despite reports that federal officials have moved all detainees from Alligator Alcatraz as the hurricane season begins, environmental advocacy groups continue to push for a permanent end to the detention center.
Officials with Friends of the Everglades on June 17 announced that environmental groups will advance their legal case against “Alligator Alcatraz” amid news that the federal government has moved all detainees out of the mass detention center in the heart of the Everglades.
The detention facility, which sits on a former airstrip in Ochopee, can house up to 2,000 detainees. The Atlantic hurricane season began June 1 and continues through November. The detention site opened in June 2025, almost the entirety of hurricane season.
In statements to news organizations on June 16, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement confirmed they relocated detainees, but Gov. Ron DeSantis did not discard future operations at the detention center.
Friends of the Everglades said on June 17 that meanwhile, the facility continues to threaten the Everglades, with heavy equipment and lights still in operation and hazardous materials moving on and off the property within Big Cypress National Preserve.
The site is what Florida State Attorney General James Uthmeier called the “virtually abandoned” Miami-Dade Collier Training and Transition Airport, a 39-square-mile airport facility with a 10,500-foot runway. Big Cypress National Preserve covers 729,000 acres.
Friends of the Everglades and the Center for Biological Diversity, which originally sued the Trump and DeSantis administrations in June 2025, affirmed their commitment to return to the trial court this month to stop the harm and force full remediation of the damage, officials with Friends of the Everglades announced June 17.
“‘Alligator Alcatraz’ will go down as one of the biggest failures in American history,” said Eve Samples, executive director of Friends of the Everglades. “Our government failed to protect the Everglades and failed to follow basic environmental laws — while racking up a $1 billion tab paid by taxpayers. We sued to stop the harm, our case continues, and we will not let up until this makeshift prison permanently closes and all the damage is undone.”
Elise Bennett, Florida and Caribbean director and attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity, said the Trump and DeSantis administrations “have shown that we can’t trust their spin about ‘Alligator Alcatraz,’ and we won’t let them skulk away from this environmental and moral disaster like it never happened.”
“The transfer of detained people out of this dystopian hellhole is a significant milestone, but it’s not enough,” Bennett said. “We’ll keep fighting until panthers can return to the embrace of their native home and bonneted bats can reclaim the star-spangled skies.”
Environmental advocates say the ICE detention center was built in June 2025 in Big Cypress National Preserve without conducting required federal environmental reviews.
Friends of the Everglades, represented by Earthjustice and private attorneys Paul Schwiep and Scott Hiaasen, along with the Center for Biological Diversity, sued in June 2025 to enforce the law that requires review of environmental impacts under the National Environmental Policy Act. The Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida, which has villages close to the unpermitted facility, joined the lawsuit.
There are currently 15 active, traditional Miccosukee and Seminole villages within the Big Cypress National Preserve, according to the Native Organizers Alliance.
“We will not rest until the government is held accountable for violating the law and the public trust,” Tania Galloni, managing attorney for Earthjustice’s Florida regional office, said in a news release. “It is great that detainees have been removed from this devastating facility. But the risks to people and the environment remain. Now we must make sure nothing like this happens again.”
In addition to violations of the National Environmental Policy Act, the National Historic Preservation Act and state laws, the groups also announced their intent to challenge violations of additional environmental laws.
In October 2025, Friends of the Everglades also sued the state for withholding public records related to federal control and funding of the facility, and in January 2026, won a court order that required the records’ disclosure. In May, the Center also sued Florida for violating the Clean Air Act, which regulates air emissions to protect public health and the environment.
“This facility was conceived behind closed doors, constructed without any public input, operated in secret, and now is, apparently, being mothballed without any explanation of how the site will be remediated or any commitment that it will be permanently closed,” said Paul J. Schwiep, of Coffey Burlington, and counsel for Friends of the Everglades and the Center for Biological Diversity. “The government may hope to slink away from this debacle, but fundamental federal and state laws enacted to protect the environment have been ignored and we remain committed to ensuring that those responsible are held accountable and that the site is fully remediated to prevent this episode from reoccurring.”
Tomas Rodriguez is a Breaking/Live News Reporter for the Naples Daily News and The News-Press. You can reach Tomas at TRodriguez@usatodayco.com or 772-333-5501. Connect with him on Threads @tomasfrobeltran, Instagram @tomasfrobeltran, Facebook @tomasrodrigueznews and Bluesky @tomasfrodriguez.
This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News: Fight continues: Environmental groups still challenge Alligator Alcatraz
Reporting by Tomas Rodriguez, Fort Myers News-Press & Naples Daily News / Naples Daily News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Tomas Rodriguez, Fort Myers News-Press & Naples Daily News | USA TODAY Network
