A federal judge on Thursday ordered an indefinite halt to new construction at an immigration detention facility that Florida officials have dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz,” and barred any new detainees from being brought to the site, siding with environmental groups who said the facility is endangering the Everglades and its wildlife.
The decision is a setback for Florida’s Republican-led state government and its aggressive efforts to aid the Trump administration’s hardline immigration agenda, including by deputizing thousands of state police as federal immigration officers.
The order by U.S. District Court Judge Kathleen Williams did not require Florida officials to completely cease operations at Alligator Alcatraz, allowing the state to continue using existing structures there to detain immigrants suspected of being in the U.S. illegally. But Williams barred any more detainees from being transferred to the site — dashing plans to expand the detention center.
The makeshift detention facility — located in what was largely an abandoned airfield — is one of several locations and prisons that Republican-led states have offered the Trump administration so they can be converted into immigration detention centers. Officials in Indiana and Nebraska have also allowed facilities in their states to hold immigrants facing deportation.
Thursday’s ruling stems from a lawsuit filed by the Miccosukee tribe and environmental activists who challenged operations at Alligator Alcatraz on environmental grounds. They’ve argued environmental reviews mandated in federal law should have been completed before the site was set up.
Florida officials have argued Alligator Alcatraz is not subject to those federal environmental requirements because the facility is run by the state. The Trump administration has said it will reimburse Florida for the effort using federal funds.
Williams had paused further construction at Alligator Alcatraz earlier this month, but only for two weeks.
A separate lawsuit over the legal rights of those held at the Everglades facility is also playing out.
That case was partially dismissed by the U.S. District Court Judge Rodolfo Ruiz earlier this week, since the Trump administration had designated an immigration court to hear the claims of those detained at Alligator Alcatraz, one of the main concerns raised by the lawsuit. But Ruiz allowed another part of the case centered on detainees’ right to in-person and confidential legal consultations to proceed, transferring the lawsuit to another federal judge.
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