Advocates demand inquiry into Florida’s recently closed Alligator Alcatraz detention center

Environmentalists and immigrant-rights advocates are demanding an independent investigation into the environmental damage caused by the recently closed Alligator Alcatraz migrant detention center. The facility operated for 12 months in the Everglades. At a news conference on Friday, the Friends of the Everglades (FOE) executive director, Eve Samples, stated that the camp was a "failure, an obscene waste of taxpayer dollars and an abuse of the Everglades." The demand for an inquiry was made alongside advocates from Florida's Miccosukee Tribe. The closure of the controversial facility was welcomed by these groups, but they insist on an accounting of the harm inflicted on the surrounding wilderness. The detention center, located in the Everglades, was a subject of significant controversy during its operation.