Judge orders closure of Trump’s migrant detention centre
A large part of the controversial migrant detention center by American president Donald Trump “Alligator Alcatraz” in Florida must be dismantled and more migrants should not be taken, judged a judge.
The decision said that the installation caused serious environmental damage to Florida Everglades – a UNESCO World Heritage Site – and has given Trump Administration 60 days to complete its operations.
The judge used a preliminary injunction, which temporarily restricts operations in the establishment while a trial brought by environmental groups against him is heard.
The state of Florida, which joins the Trump administration in the construction of the site, has already made a call.
The 82 -page decision said that no more detainees could be brought to the center and that it prohibited any new construction work or expansion on the site.
The decision is a major legal blow for Trump’s plans for the center, which has aroused many criticisms for the allegedly severe conditions and the potential damage to the local ecosystem.
In Thursday’s decision, the district court judge Kathleen Williams, appointed by former president Barack Obama, said the installation caused irreparable damage to the Everglades in Florida and his endangered species.
It also ordered the closure of “all generators, gas, wastewater and other waste receivers”, which would greatly affect the center’s capacity to operate.
Judge Williams cited a plan in the 1960s to build a tourist airport in the Everglades which was rejected due to the fears of environmental damage it could cause.
“Since then, each governor of Florida, each senator from Florida and countless local and national political figures, including the presidents, have publicly promised their unequivocal support for the restoration, the conservation and protection of the Everglades,” she wrote.
“This order does nothing more than maintaining the basic requirements of the legislation designed to keep these promises.”
The environmental groups that set up judicial dispute welcomed the decision.
“This is a historic victory for the Everglades and countless Americans who believe that this desert in danger should be protected, not exploited,” said Eve Samples, executive director of the Friends of the Everglades.
“It sends a clear message that environmental laws must be respected by leaders at the highest level of our government – and there are consequences to ignore them.”
Thursday’s decision comes after the previous number of Williams judge of a temporary prohibition order which ordered the construction break on the site.
“Alligator Alcatraz” was presented as a centerpiece of the repression of the Trump administration against illegal immigration.
Built in the middle of a swamp of Miami, its name comes from the fauna of alligators, crocodiles and pythons in the surrounding wetlands – which, according to Trump, would prevent prisoners from escaping.
The installation was designed to contain 3,000 prisoners and presented as a model for future detention centers that would support the Trump administration expulsion program.
During a visit to the establishment in July, Trump praised his potential to hold the “most threatening migrants, some of the most vicious people on the planet”.
But since the start of the operation, the site has been the subject of multiple prosecution and complaints of environmental activists and local residents.
Experts previously warned that damage to the region’s wetlands and endangered species could cancel Florida’s massive efforts to restore the Everglades, which cost the billions of dollars in the state.
