Gov. Ron DeSantis has said the location in the rugged and remote Everglades was meant as a deterrent against escape, much like the island prison in California that Republicans named it after. The detention center has an estimated annual cost of $450 million, according to a public database.

A federal judge is deciding whether to close or keep open a detention site in the Everglades, which environmentalists and the Miccosukee Tribe claim violates the National Environmental Policy Act and threatens endangered species and tribal homelands.