The Florida agency in charge of the “Alligator Alcatraz” detention facility must release all texts, emails, and other communications with federal authorities about how the migrant center was set up and run, a Leon County judge ruled Tuesday.
The Florida Division of Emergency Management has just over two weeks to disclose these records to the non-profit Friends of the Everglades, Circuit Judge Angela Dempsey in Leon County said. The decision comes amid a six-month legal battle between the state and the environmental group over whether the Everglades center is in compliance with environmental laws.
“The Division shall by no later than February 12, 2026, fully and completely comply with Plaintiff Friends of the Everglades public records requests … with all responsive public records through the date of this order,” the ruling reads.
It enumerates the group’s requests on June 24, Sep. 11, and Sep. 13 for communication records between state and federal officials on plans to use the training center, how it was operated, and any information on grant requests.
The center has come under scrutiny since Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced its construction on June 19. It can hold up to 3,000 migrants at a time and has seen roughly 20,000 detainees since its opening six months ago.
Aside from environmental concerns, Democrats and humanitarian groups worried that the facility could be harming detainees and may be illegally preventing lawmakers from making unannounced visits. Both of those concerns were nixed by Florida courts. A human rights organization alleged in December that Alligator Alcatraz was torturing detainees, although the state denied wrongdoing.
READ MORE: Florida judge rejects 'Alligator Alcatraz' access lawsuit filed by Democratic lawmakers
What happened?Friends of the Everglades sued in federal court just days after Florida announced construction at the site. They argued that transforming the near-defunct Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport into a migrant detention center would violate a federal environmental law by disrupting the ecosystem and harming the diverse Everglades wildlife.
But, the state argued, they hadn’t applied for federal funding for the detention center. They maintained this throughout the case, until a three-judge appeals panel in September ruled that a state-run center can’t violate a federal enviornmental act because there are no federal ties.
But days later, FDEM Director Kevin Guthrie confirmed that Florida had applied for a federal reimbursement grant. And, in another twist, sparse records returned to Friends of the Everglades revealed that the state had applied for the federal grant in early August, despite making no mention of the grant request in the slew of court documents that would follow.
In October, the Federal Emergency Management Agency announced that Florida would be awarded $608.4 million in a federal grant award. As of December, that money had yet to come in.
Throughout this time, Friends of the Everglades said they’d made public records requests in June, September, and October related to any communications between state and federal officials. But it wouldn’t be until Oct. 10 that FDEM returned any public records, the group says, and it was a one-page document showing that a grant request was made by the state on Aug. 7.
Friends of the Everglades believe more records exist.
Since then, Friends has asked the trial court to find that the state violated public records law and to force officials to produce all records within 48 hours of an order. Instead, Judge Dempsey ruled Tuesday that FDEM has until Feb. 12.
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