Detainees at Florida’s immigration detention center, dubbed ‘Alligator Alcatraz,’ have been transferred to other facilities, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials. The move was made for the safety of the illegal immigrants as hurricane season approaches.

Background

The facility, located at a remote airstrip in Big Cypress National Preserve, was opened by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration last July to support the immigration crackdown by the Trump administration. The center has been the subject of multiple lawsuits and complaints about the conditions inside.

A federal appellate court decided in April to keep the detention center open for the time being, blocking a lower court decision ordering it to wind down operations. However, reports surfaced last month that the facility’s closure could be expected as early as June.

DeSantis stated that the facility was always meant to be a temporary detention center and that the state is being reimbursed by the federal government for over $600 million for the facility. ‘I think when we did it, we thought that it would be six months to a year in terms of the necessity of it,’ DeSantis said.

Original reporting: NBC6 Miami — read the source article.