Faculty Want Answers on University Supplying Equipment for "Alligator Alcatraz"

Florida International University provided equipment to the Everglades immigration detention facility nicknamed "Alligator Alcatraz." University President Jeanette Nuf1ez said the equipment is a state asset owned by the Department of Emergency Management and was supplied at the state's request. The disclosure intensified anger over FIU's police partnership with Immigration and Customs Enforcement and ongoing labor disputes. Workers who carried out the task expressed concern and fear of retaliation when ordered to do so. Faculty leaders and staff are demanding transparency, higher pay, and accountability from university administrators. The university has not provided a public response to requests for comment.

Florida International University (FIU) is under fire from one of its own faculty members after news reports detailed that the school provided equipment to the Everglades immigration detention facility known as "Alligator Alcatraz." The disclosure intensified existing anger over FIU's police partnership with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and ongoing labor disputes, fueling demands for transparency, higher pay, and accountability from administrators.

After Prism and NBC6 reported that FIU supplied an emergency operations trailer to the construction site at "Alligator Alcatraz," university President Jeanette Nuf1ez confirmed in a recent NBC6 interview that the university did so at the state's request, clarifying that the equipment is owned by the state's Department of Emergency Management, the lead agency overseeing construction and operations of the facility.

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