Federal officials on Friday confirmed that Florida has reimbursed $688 million for the construction and operation of an immigration detention center in the Florida Everglades, putting them at risk of being ordered to close the Alligator Alcatraz for a second time.
The US Department of Homeland Security said in an email that Florida has been awarded a full refund request.
The refund will force Florida to operate a second time at a remote facility due to a federal judge’s injunction in August. A Miami judge agrees to an environmental group that accused the site of not undergoing proper environmental review before it was converted to an immigration detention center, and will close the operation in Florida for two months.
However, the judge’s injunction was put on hold for the time being by a panel of Atlanta appeals courts that said the state-run facilities do not need to undergo the necessary environmental impact studies for the federal government as Florida had not yet received federal money for the project.
“If a federal defendant finally approves the request and decides to reimburse Florida for expenditures related to the facility, it may be necessary to first implement an EIS (environmental impact statement).
The appeals panel’s decision allowed the detention centre to remain open and halt its efforts to fall into the wind.
President Donald Trump toured the facility in July, suggesting that it could be a model for future lockups abroad.
An environmental group suing the federal and state governments said the refund confirmation indicated that the Florida-made facility was a federal project “from the Jump.”
“This is a federal project built with a federal fund that is required for federal law to undergo full environmental review,” Florida Elise Bennett and the Caribbean director of the Center for Biodiversity, said in a statement. “We will do everything we can to stop this lawless, destructive, useless failure.”
