Florida’s Attorney General is ready to make maximum use of the state’s pre-deportation prison for illegal immigrants.
Speaking to NewsNation[1], Attorney General James Uthmeier[2] acknowledged that just a “few hundred” people were housed at Alligator Alcatraz[3] ahead of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals[4] ruling that halted a lower court order to wind down operations. But Uthmeier reckons that will change soon after the appellate “smackdown” that put Judge Kathleen Williams “back in her place.”
“This Judge would not allow new detainees to be sent there and obviously deportations were ongoing daily, but the place can hold thousands and we’ll fill it up quickly,” the state’s top legal officer said.
Indeed, the appeal brims with optimism. The majority opinion says the state of Florida and the federal Department of Homeland Security are “likely to demonstrate on appeal that the Plaintiffs have failed to state a viable claim.”
Uthmeier believes inmates can be cycled through the converted training airport quickly. A “lengthy legal process” is not required given the uncomplicated nature of legal proceedings for them to be sent out of the country.
“At the end of the day, we just need to conclude that these people are illegally in the country, and that does not take long to do,” Uthmeier said.
The Left cries again for process when people are being deported while when they came in the country, there was no process whatsoever. They were just given a piece of paper, maybe, if they were even, you know, engaged and told to show up in a few years, as if a lot of people were going to voluntarily do that. So these people will get the process they deserve.”
Questions remain still about who is on the hook for what Uthmeier calls a “low-cost security facility.”
Central to the appellate decision was the assertion that Florida is fiscally responsible for operations, given that the state has yet to formally petition for reimbursement despite operations that have been ongoing for weeks.
Independent journalist Jason Garcia noted that over $350 million[5] in contracts have been signed.
The vendor-managed project was projected to cost $245 per bed, or $450 million a year, and was said to be eligible for reimbursement from the Federal Emergency Management Agency[6]. But absent formally petitioning for payback, there’s no way for this to happen at this writing.
“A governor cannot apply for FEMA aid via press conference,” the majority opinion said.
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References
- ^ NewsNation (x.com)
- ^ James Uthmeier (x.com)
- ^ Alligator Alcatraz (floridapolitics.com)
- ^ 11th Circuit Court of Appeals (www.ca11.uscourts.gov)
- ^ over $350 million (jasongarcia.substack.com)
- ^ Federal Emergency Management Agency (www.fema.gov)