A.G. Gancarski
Florida’s Supreme Court won’t immediately hear a dispute about “Alligator Alcatraz,” the state’s high-profile illegal immigrant internment camp.
Instead, Justices sent the case down to be heard by a lower court.
“The Petition for Writ of Quo Warranto is hereby transferred to the Circuit Court of the Second Judicial Circuit in and for Leon County, Florida. The transfer of this case should not be construed as an adjudication or comment on the merits of the petition, nor as a determination that the transferee court has jurisdiction or that the petition has been properly titled as a Writ of Quo Warranto,” the high court announced.
“The transferee court should not interpret the transfer of this case as an indication that it must or should reach the merits of the petition. The transferee court shall treat the petition as if it had been originally filed there on the date it was filed in this Court.”
Democratic lawmakers — Sens. Shevrin Jones and Carlos Guillermo Smith and Reps. Anna Eskamani, Angie Nixon and Michele Rayner — sued the Gov. Ron DeSantis administration last week over “denial of unannounced access” to the site, which they called “blatantly unconstitutional” after they were refused entry July 3.
The DeSantis administration said the lawsuit is “frivolous” and “dumb.”
Lawmakers did get access this weekend, via a guided tour from the DeSantis administration, to the training airport on the edge of the Everglades that in recent weeks has become a staging ground for deportations from President Donald Trump’s administration.
Perceptions of whether the makeshift camp was above board or below standard were predicated on party identification, however.
Jones said people with “traffic infractions” were inside, disputing that the “worst of the worst” were in there, and that his Republican “colleagues” were “taking this as a game,” noting it was 83 degrees in there.
Republican Sen. Blaise Ingoglia said there were no issues.
“Just finished my walkthrough of Alligator Alcatraz. Here’s what I saw: The rhetoric coming from Democrats does not match the reality,” said the Spring Hill Republican, who is being considered as the appointed Chief Financial Officer.
“The place is well run, safe, secure, clean and air conditioned. We reviewed the intake area, medical tent, mess hall, recreation areas and sleeping quarters. I actually laid down in one of the beds and it was really comfortable. So, any complaints about squalor conditions is nothing more than bullsh*t and political theater.”
Regardless of how legal action proceeds, “Alligator Alcatraz” will be replicated in Florida and beyond.
The DeSantis administration is planning a second internment facility in Northeast Florida at Camp Blanding. U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said five other states may set up their own equivalents.
And there’s no reason not to, given the likelihood of federal reimbursement for the spend through the Department of Homeland Security and Federal Emergency Management Agency Shelter and Service funds. Florida expects its $450 million investment, which has been a boon for connected contractors, to be paid back at some point. Presumably the same model applies for other franchisees of the concept.
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Gabrielle Russon of Florida Politics contributed to this report.
