OCHOPEE, Fla.— Immigration rights advocates, environmental groups, public lands advocates and members of the Miccosukee Tribe gathered today at the entrance to the “Alligator Alcatraz” immigration detention center to spotlight ongoing threats to the Everglades and demand government accountability following the removal of detained people from the unpermitted and harmful ICE facility.

They vowed to continue the legal fight until the site is permanently closed and a plan is underway to remediate harm and protect Big Cypress National Preserve from future harmful development.

“Since its inception, ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ has been a blight on the Everglades,” said Betty Osceola, an Everglades defender and Miccosukee tribal elder, who has been denied access to sacred lands and has participated in regular interfaith vigils outside the facility.

Gov. Ron DeSantis announced that all detainees have been removed from the site to other facilities. Officials from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said people detained at the site had been moved for hurricane season, but it remains unclear where and whether they would return. In public statements, Gov. Ron DeSantis also left the door open for future operations at the detention center.

Meanwhile, the facility, which sits in the heart of Big Cypress National Preserve, continues to threaten the Everglades with more than 20 acres of new pavement, hazardous waste, diesel generators, heavy equipment, and glaring lights that harm wildlife and Miccosukee tribal villages.

“The lights are still on. The tents are still up. And the public is still in the dark about this massively expensive failure of public policy. Today, we’re calling on the DeSantis administration to take immediate steps to address the ecological harm inflicted on the Everglades for the past year,” said Eve Samples, executive director of Friends of the Everglades. “Step one is to remove all the infrastructure associated with ‘Alligator Alcatraz,’ followed by a transparent environmental assessment of the contamination and degradation of this area of Big Cypress National Preserve.”

“Alligator Alcatraz’s shameful shadow has darkened the Everglades and America’s soul for more than a year, brutalizing every living being within in its reach,” said Elise Bennett, Florida and Caribbean director and an attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity. “To even begin to repair the damage they’ve done, the Trump and DeSantis administrations must clear out the facility and publicly reveal what happened behind the barbed-wire fences. We’ll hold them to account until Big Cypress is restored and nothing like this can ever happen again.”

Friends of the Everglades, represented by Earthjustice and Coffey Burlington attorneys Paul Schwiep and Scott Hiaasen, along with the Center for Biological Diversity, sued in June 2025 to enforce a law that requires review of environmental impacts under the National Environmental Policy Act before major federal projects are approved. The Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida joined the lawsuit to protect tribal rights.

“The detention facility was built with no consideration of environmental impacts, including on Tribal members. Once the harms this facility has caused are assessed and remediated, we must turn to ensuring that this never happens again in this special place,” said Paul J. Schwiep of Coffey Burlington and counsel for Friends of the Everglades and the Center for Biological Diversity.

Today, the groups affirmed their commitment to return to the trial court to enforce state and federal laws, stop the harm, and force full remediation of the damage.

“We have to ensure nothing like this ever happens again,” said Tania Galloni, managing attorney for Earthjustice’s Florida regional office. “The government has to be held accountable for running roughshod over laws meant to protect the environment. If they are allowed to do this in the Everglades, no place is safe.”

The legal fight continues on several fronts. 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 other significant environmental law violations. In October 2025, Friends of the Everglades also sued Florida for withholding public records related to federal control and the facility’s funding. In January, Friends of the Everglades won a court order requiring the records’ disclosure. In May, the Center for Biological Diversity sued Florida for violating the Clean Air Act because constantly running diesel generators spewed pollution from the detention center.

According to court records, only 1.79% of new cases in fiscal year 2026 sought deportation orders based on any alleged criminal activity of the immigrant (TRAC Immigration). That means that the vast majority immigrants detained or facing deportation right now do not have a criminal record.

The closure follows months of litigation challenging the facility's denial of meaningful access to legal counsel. At the outset of the litigation, Alligator Alcatraz operated as a "black hole" for detained immigrants and their attorneys. There was no publicly available information explaining how lawyers could contact clients, arrange visits, or access the facility.

Attorneys searching for detained clients encountered dead ends, bounced emails, unanswered calls, and armed checkpoints. People held inside were often limited to brief monitored phone calls and lacked meaningful access to legal counsel and the immigration courts.

In response, brave detained individuals, together with Sanctuary of the South and Bilbao Law, LLC, challenged these unlawful barriers in federal court. Represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Florida, and Americans for Immigrant Justice, they filed C.M. v. Noem, later litigated as H.C.R. v. Mullin, challenging the facility's systematic denial of access to counsel and the courts. The federal court ultimately certified a class of detainees and granted preliminary injunctive relief requiring defendants to provide confidential legal communications, establish and publish attorney-access protocols, and implement other safeguards necessary to protect constitutional rights.

“Closing this facility is an important step, but the government's obligation to respect due process does not end at the facility gates. Constitutional rights must follow every person wherever they are detained," said Paul R. Chavez, director of litigation & advocacy at Americans for Immigrant Justice. “These failures are not an isolated case — they reflect systemic failures throughout our immigration detention system. We remain deeply concerned that people transferred out of this facility will continue to face mistreatment and civil rights violations in other detention centers. Americans for Immigrant Justice will continue to defend due process, offer free legal representation to low-income immigrants and stand strong with our immigrant neighbors, friends, and their families.”