A federal judge has ordered the shutdown of a controversial detention center in South Florida, citing ongoing concerns about site expansion and detainee conditions. U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams issued a preliminary injunction halting operations at the facility, commonly referred to as “Alligator Alcatraz,” located at the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport within the Big Cypress National Preserve in Ochopee, Florida.
In an 82-page order, Judge Williams barred both state and federal officials from adding new detainees to the site or continuing construction and expansion efforts. The injunction specifically prohibits additional industrial lighting, construction of new buildings or fences, and the installation of other infrastructure. The facility must be dismantled within 60 days.
🚨 JUST IN – GOV. RON DESANTIS: “We’ve got a Republican Congress! All these guys that run when they ask you for their vote, ‘Oh, I’m going to secure the border, I’m going to be tough on immigration.’ Not one runs openly on being weak on immigration, right? Because they know they… pic.twitter.com/WBZ3hBvgQT
— Florida’s Voice (@FLVoiceNews) August 22, 2025
🚨 BREAKING: @GovRonDeSantis announces deportations will continue at Alligator Alcatraz as they fight the ruling from an activist judge
“We’re not gonna be deterred. We’re totally in the right on this.”
“We are gonna be opening another facility…Deportation Depot.” pic.twitter.com/9YL6RKJyN3
— Florida’s Voice (@FLVoiceNews) August 22, 2025
Governor DeSantis Announces Results of Major Immigration Enforcement Operation https://t.co/A1oooXaW3D
— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) August 22, 2025
“The Court ENTERS a Preliminary Injunction prohibiting the State and Federal Defendants…from…bringing any additional persons onto the TNT site who were not already being detained at the site at the time of this Order going into effect,” the judge wrote.
At a press conference the following morning, Governor Ron DeSantis criticized the decision, calling Judge Williams “an activist judge” and claiming the ruling was expected. He reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to immigration enforcement.
“This is not going to deter us,” DeSantis said. “We are going to continue working on the deportations, advancing that mission. We knew that this would be something that would likely happen and we will respond accordingly.”
DeSantis also announced the state’s plan to open a new facility in northern Florida, near Jacksonville in Baker County. Dubbed the “Deportation Depot,” the new site is expected to house up to 2,000 individuals and will be located near an airport to facilitate removals.
“Because of the success of Alligator Alcatraz, there’s demand for more,” DeSantis said. “We’re going to be opening another facility…so you have the processing and the removal.”
The governor also called on Congress to take action against sanctuary states. He referenced a recent case involving an undocumented immigrant who received a commercial driver’s license in California and was involved in a fatal crash on the Florida Turnpike, killing three people.
DeSantis urged the Republican-controlled Congress to defund sanctuary jurisdictions that, in his view, obstruct federal immigration enforcement.