One-Year After “Alligator Alcatraz” Opened, Sierra Club Marks Closure of Detention Facility and Major Victory for the Everglades

WASHINGTON, D.C. - One year after the opening of the immigration detention facility known as "Alligator Alcatraz," Sierra Club is marking the facility's recently announced closure as a major victory for the Everglades. It also marks an important milestone for the grassroots movement that came together to defend one of the world's most important ecosystems from a cruel and damaging use of public lands.

Over the past year, Sierra Club's Parks Not Prisons campaign worked alongside Sierra Club Florida to build a broad coalition dedicated to protecting the Everglades from environmental threats while opposing the use of public lands for immigration detention. A cornerstone of that effort was Sierra Club's Outings to Resistance program, which brought volunteers, partners, and community members into the Everglades to experience firsthand what was at stake and strengthen the movement working to protect it.

"Our parks should never be home to immigration detention facilities," said Jackie Ostfeld, Director of Outdoors for All at Sierra Club. "The closure of Alligator Alcatraz reflects the power of people coming together to make a difference and fight for justice. This victory belongs to everyone who refused to accept that one of America's greatest ecosystems could be sacrificed, and it should send a clear message that we'll continue standing up for public lands wherever they're threatened. We won't stay silent while the Trump administration weaponizes our parks and public lands for its inhumane immigration agenda."

"Parks Not Prisons has always recognized that protecting public lands also means standing against efforts to turn them into places of detention," said Sherman Neal II, Deputy Director of Military Outdoors at Sierra Club. "Over the past year, this campaign brought together conservation advocates, outdoor leaders, tribal partners, and local communities around a shared commitment to protect the Everglades. The closure of Alligator Alcatraz is an important milestone, but our work isn't finished. We'll continue fighting to restore this landscape, protect it from future threats, and ensure our public lands are never used this way again."

Jordan Holaday, Outings Program Manager of the Sierra Club Florida Chapter, said "Big Cypress National Preserve, the first national preserve established in the United States, has long been a refuge for those seeking to escape the fast pace of urban South Florida. The detention center's deliberately evocative nickname was intended to convey isolation and hopelessness. Instead, it galvanized Florida's outdoor community, inspiring people nationwide to experience the Everglades firsthand and to speak out against the impacts of placing an immigration detention facility within our nation's most remarkable public lands."

Marcelo Balladares, Sierra Club Florida Chapter Everglades Organizer, said "The Everglades has had a long history of resistance; time and time again we have seen it used by those being persecuted and targeted for harm as a safe haven. The detention center shined a light on the importance of standing up for our communities as a grassroots organization. When our communities are put in harm's way, it is not long before our environment is in the crosshairs."

While Sierra Club welcomes the closure of the detention facility, the organization emphasized that its work in the Everglades is far from over. Sierra Club will continue working with partners to protect the Everglades and ensure these public lands remain safeguarded for future generations.

About the Sierra Club

The Sierra Club is America's largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit https://www.sierraclub.org.