U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz says Alligator Alcatraz must be shut down

U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Weston, who toured Alligator Alcatraz last month with other members of Congress, applauded a federal judge’s order Thursday night to shut down Alligator Alcatraz within 60 days.

"The judge got it right,” the Democratic South Florida lawmaker posted on X. “This Everglades internment camp tosses our environmental laws aside and puts billions of Everglades restoration investments at risk."

"We Floridians cherish our natural water resources and we won't be bulldozed by the hate peddlers who hastily built this monument to waste, corruption and human cruelty," she wrote.

READ MORE: Florida must stop expanding 'Alligator Alcatraz' immigration center, judge says

U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams — in response to a lawsuit filed in federal court by environmental groups — issued a preliminary injunction Thursday halting further expansion and ordering the winding down of an immigration detention center built in the middle of the Florida Everglades and dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz.” The groups allege the construction of the facility was carried out in violation of environmental laws.

The Miami federal court judge's injunction formalized a temporary halt she had ordered two weeks ago as witnesses continued to testify in a multiday hearing to determine whether construction should end until the ultimate resolution of the case.

Wasserman Schultz condemned the construction of the facility, framing it as a threat to Florida's ecological and natural heritage.

"We Floridians cherish our natural water resources and we won't be bulldozed by the hate peddlers who hastily built this monument to waste, corruption and human cruelty," she wrote.

She also said state and federal law enforcement authorities are violating the “due process rights” of the immigrants detained at the facility.

The Associated Press contributed to this story