Florida to shut down Alligator Alcatraz migrant detention facility, reports say

(CNN) - Florida will shutter its controversial Alligator Alcatraz migrant detention facility by early June, The New York Times and WFOR reported.

Sources familiar with the facility’s operations told The New York Times that vendors at the site were told Tuesday that detainees would be removed by the start of June and that the center would be dismantled in the following weeks.

Republicans have said the facility, deep in the Florida Everglades, is a valuable tool in President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.

The expected closure follows mounting legal challenges, high operating costs and allegations of inhumane conditions.

Gov. Ron DeSantis acknowledged he has been in talks with the Trump administration about shutting the facility down.

DeSantis said the site was always intended to be temporary.

The Department of Homeland Security told CNN on Tuesday that reports that DHS is ‘pressuring the state to cease operations at Alligator Alcatraz’ are false.