Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has remained virulently opposed to a woke, Obama-appointed judge’s efforts to shut down his “Alligator Alcatraz” facility that’s meant to detain illegal aliens and handle the processing of them internally so that they can be quickly deported, firing back with an appeal of the ruling demanding he shut it down.
As background, on Thursday, August 21, U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams, an Obama-era appointee, ruled that Florida had to dismantle Alligator Alcatraz, requiring the removal of the fencing, lighting, and generators that make it an effective facility for detaining migrants. In her order, Judge Williams demanded the removal on environmental grounds, and said the state must immediately halt construction and remove the aforementioned equipment that makes it an effective facility.
Gov. DeSantis, firing back at the ruling, declared that the rogue judge won’t deter Florida from its attempts to enforce American immigration law within its borders. Speaking about the matter in a press conference, he said, “This [ruling] is not going to deter us. We’re going to continue working on the deportations, advancing that mission.”
But the governor is not just bloviating: his legal team has taken action to ensure Alligator Alcatraz remains functional despite the Obama-appointed judge’s order. In near-immediate response to the ruling, Florida state attorneys fired off a lengthy motion to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
In the motion, Gov. DeSantis’s legal team is requesting both that the decision made by Judge Williams be overturned, and that the stay of the preliminary injunction she issued be granted, thus allowing the state to continue operating Alligator Alcatraz while the potentially lengthy appellate process plays out in Atlanta, where the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals is based.
In the legal argument, DeSantis’s legal team noted that the preliminary injunction issued by Judge Williams would be a disaster for immigration enforcement efforts in the state, as it would harm the state’s ability to detain illegal aliens while working with the Trump Administration to assist its deportation efforts.
Arguing as much while requesting the stay, the Florida lawyers noted, “A stay is necessary to avoid irreparable harm to the state. For one, the injunction irreparably harms the state because it stops Florida’s executive branch from taking action that Florida law empowers it to take. For another, the injunction risks harm to the public, law enforcement, and detainees.”
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Further, they argued that the costs to the state’s treasury and public safety that would be incurred by compliance with the preliminary injunction are unconscionable, stating, “By requiring the state to cease taking new detainees and ultimately shutter the facility, the injunction will lead to either harmful overcrowding or to the release of additional illegal aliens, which risks public safety. Finally, the injunction forces Florida to incur irrecoverable costs.”
Gov. DeSantis, commenting on the importance of Alligator Alcatraz back in mid-July, said, “Sure this is not the Ritz Carlton, okay, we’re not doing this just to let people have have have food and shelter, although they do get that. But that’s not in all the minimum standards are upheld. But the reality is it’s there to be a quick processing center so that they can, we have a runway right there, they can just be flown back to their home country. So that is the purpose of why we’re doing it. ”
Further, he commented on the disadvantageous alternative, which is to what Florida would have to turn if the appeal is not granted, saying, “And as that fills, once there’s a demand, then we would be able to go for Camp Blanding. But what I don’t want to do is set up Blanding. If you know, one is 60% full and then the other is 40% I’d rather just have channel everyone to Alligator [Alcatraz], since it’s easier, you can add from whatever you know you need, but we definitely think that you can do easily three to 4000 at alligator Alcatraz, we have not yet received that many illegal aliens yet there, but it has grown pretty quickly.”
Watch him here:
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video