Florida's 'Alligator Alcatraz' Immigration Facility to Close Soon, Official Says

Facility Closure Imminent

• 🎯 A top Florida official stated that the state-run immigration detention facility, known as 'Alligator Alcatraz', is expected to be empty within days.
• 📧 This admission was made in a one-sentence email response from the executive director of the state agency overseeing the facility.

Legal Battles and Appeals

• ⚖️ Despite the impending closure, the state still plans to appeal the shutdown order.
• 🏛️ Federal defendants in an environmental law case have joined Florida in asking the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals to place a hold on the US District Judge's ruling, seeking to keep the facility operational pending appeal.
• 🤝 Over 20 other states have filed a brief supporting Florida's efforts to keep the facility open.

Interfaith Support and Future Plans

• 🙏 Interfaith leaders have been providing chaplaincy services to detainees at the facility.
• 📣 They expressed gratitude for the news of the closure but stated they cannot take it at face value yet.
• 🚶 If the shutdown ruling is upheld, clergy members plan to continue their vigils and move them to wherever the detainees are transferred.