DHS Suddenly Pulls Weird 180 on “Alligator Alcatraz” After Trump Visit

The Department of Homeland Security is suddenly trying to distance itself from “Alligator Alcatraz,” after weeks of promoting the Trump administration’s premiere wetland-themed concentration camp in the Florida Everglades.

In a court filing Thursday responding to a lawsuit from environmental groups, the DHS claimed that it had “not implemented, authorized, directed or funded” the construction of the new ICE detention center made up of tents on a defunct airstrip in Miami-Dade County.

“Florida is constructing and operating the facility using state funds on state lands under state emergency authority and a preexisting general delegation of federal authority to implement immigration functions,” the filing said.  

Environmental groups had alleged that in addition to skipping the necessary environmental reviews, the DHS had violated the Administrative Procedure Act by failing to provide a window for public notice and comment. The DHS argued that because it had not been involved in approving construction, “the ‘final agency action’ that the Administrative Procedure Act requires as a prerequisite to judicial review is entirely absent here.” 

But that’s not what the Department of Homeland Security said earlier this week. The DHS said it had signed off on a plan to house up to 5,000 people in Florida and planned to use funding from FEMA’s shelter program to reimburse the $450 million in estimated costs, according to Politico.

“Under President Trump’s leadership, we are working at turbo speed on cost-effective and innovative ways to deliver on the American people’s mandate for mass deportations of criminal illegal aliens,” DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said in a statement. “We will expand facilities and bed space in just days, thanks to our partnership with Florida.”

But the Thursday filing asserted that it was up to Florida to file for reimbursement from FEMA, though the state had not yet done so. 

The filing also stated that because Florida has an agreement under Section 287 (g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act so that “any decision to detain aliens ... would be Florida’s decision, not DHS’s,” according to Politico’s Gary Fineout. A majority of states have such an agreement with ICE, which allows immigration officers to collaborate with state and local officials. Using this legal gimmick, DHS could attempt to skirt accountability for the construction and management of ICE detainment centers across the country—while still taking the credit.