The World Today
MADRID, 22 (EUROPA PRESS)
A federal judge in Florida on Thursday ordered the migrant detention center known as "Alligator Alcatraz" for the alligators in the Everglades where it is located to block the entry of new people and to remove some of its infrastructure within 60 days.
Judge Kathleen Williams, who temporarily halted the expansion work at the beginning of August, has thus prohibited the housing of more detainees beyond those already housed at the center, as well as the installation of any additional infrastructure at the abandoned airport where the center is located.
In this regard, it has also stipulated that "all generators, gas, wastewater, and other waste and residue containers" that were added to the facility must be removed within 60 days of the order.
This preliminary ruling responds to a lawsuit filed by environmental and indigenous groups regarding the potential environmental implications of a construction project that has become a symbol of U.S. President Donald Trump's immigration policies.
The Everglades is a region rich in wetlands and home to numerous animal species, such as the alligators that give the facility its name. The facility was built around a 3,400-meter (11,000-square-mile) pilot training runway, now largely unused, and is part of a 101-square-kilometer (43-square-mile) enclave located 70 kilometers (43 miles) from Miami.
The Trump administration wants to expand them to make them a benchmark within its controversial immigration policy, which involves accelerating the detention and deportation of illegal immigrants.
