A federal judge has blocked further expansion of Florida’s immigration detention facility in the Everglades, known as “Alligator Alcatraz,” ruling that it violated environmental laws and ordering that much of the facility be dismantled.
US district Judge Kathleen Williams issued the preliminary injunction on Thursday, formalising an earlier temporary order.
Her 82-page ruling bars state and federal officials from bringing in new detainees, restricts activity at the compound to safety repairs only, and directs the removal of fencing, lighting and generators once the population is transferred within 60 days.
She also prohibited any new construction at the site, reported The New York Times.
“What is apparent, however, is that in their haste to construct the detention camp, the State did not consider alternative locations,” Williams wrote, as cited by news agency AP, adding that the facility would have “considerable environmental impacts” on the protected wetlands.
She warned the project risked “irreparable harm in the form of habitat loss and increased mortality to endangered species in the area,” including the Florida panther, and threatened water supplies for communities dependent on the Everglades, according to the NYT.
The detention centre, erected two months ago on an old airstrip in Big Cypress National Preserve near the border with Everglades National Park, currently holds several hundred detainees but was intended to house up to 3,000 in large white tents ringed by chain-link fencing.
Inside, rows of bunk beds sit in sweltering tents where detainees have complained of worms in food, broken toilets flooding floors, mosquitoes, limited access to showers and medicines, and sudden air-conditioning failures, reported AP.
Environmental groups and the Miccosukee Tribe, who filed the lawsuit, argued the project threatens endangered wildlife and risks polluting wetlands through runoff. “This brutal detention centre was burning a hole in the fabric of life that supports our most iconic wetland,” said Elise Bennett of the Centre for Biological Diversity, as quoted by The Washington Post.
Eve Samples of Friends of the Everglades hailed the ruling as “a landmark victory… It sends a clear message that environmental laws must be respected by leaders at the highest levels of our government.”
Miccosukee Tribe Chairman Talbert Cypress added, “We will always stand up for our culture, our sovereignty, and for the Everglades,” reported AP.
Williams ruled that federal agencies should have carried out a full environmental review under the National Environmental Policy Act, despite the state’s claim that federal law did not apply because Florida was leading construction. She noted the facility operated under federal immigration enforcement standards and funding, making it a joint venture. “If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, and looks like a duck, then it’s a duck,” she wrote, according to NYT.
Governor Ron DeSantis, who has defended the camp as part of Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown, immediately appealed the decision. His spokesman Alex Lanfranconi said, “The deportations will continue until morale improves.” The governor has also pushed plans for a second immigration detention site in North Florida, dubbed “Deportation Depot,” reported AP.
According to Politico, Florida’s top emergency management official Kevin Guthrie also filed a notice of appeal Thursday night. DeSantis, anticipating the defeat, had earlier accused Williams of bias, “It’s pretty clear we’re in front of a judge who is not going to give us a fair shake on this,” he said Tuesday.
The ruling represents a significant victory for environmentalists. Williams noted that since President Harry Truman’s 1947 dedication of Everglades National Park, every Florida governor and national leader has pledged support for its protection. “This order does nothing more than uphold the basic requirements of legislation designed to fulfil those promises,” she wrote.
US district Judge Kathleen Williams issued the preliminary injunction on Thursday, formalising an earlier temporary order.
Her 82-page ruling bars state and federal officials from bringing in new detainees, restricts activity at the compound to safety repairs only, and directs the removal of fencing, lighting and generators once the population is transferred within 60 days.
She also prohibited any new construction at the site, reported The New York Times.
“What is apparent, however, is that in their haste to construct the detention camp, the State did not consider alternative locations,” Williams wrote, as cited by news agency AP, adding that the facility would have “considerable environmental impacts” on the protected wetlands.
She warned the project risked “irreparable harm in the form of habitat loss and increased mortality to endangered species in the area,” including the Florida panther, and threatened water supplies for communities dependent on the Everglades, according to the NYT.
The detention centre, erected two months ago on an old airstrip in Big Cypress National Preserve near the border with Everglades National Park, currently holds several hundred detainees but was intended to house up to 3,000 in large white tents ringed by chain-link fencing.
Inside, rows of bunk beds sit in sweltering tents where detainees have complained of worms in food, broken toilets flooding floors, mosquitoes, limited access to showers and medicines, and sudden air-conditioning failures, reported AP.
Environmental groups and the Miccosukee Tribe, who filed the lawsuit, argued the project threatens endangered wildlife and risks polluting wetlands through runoff. “This brutal detention centre was burning a hole in the fabric of life that supports our most iconic wetland,” said Elise Bennett of the Centre for Biological Diversity, as quoted by The Washington Post.
Eve Samples of Friends of the Everglades hailed the ruling as “a landmark victory… It sends a clear message that environmental laws must be respected by leaders at the highest levels of our government.”
Miccosukee Tribe Chairman Talbert Cypress added, “We will always stand up for our culture, our sovereignty, and for the Everglades,” reported AP.
Williams ruled that federal agencies should have carried out a full environmental review under the National Environmental Policy Act, despite the state’s claim that federal law did not apply because Florida was leading construction. She noted the facility operated under federal immigration enforcement standards and funding, making it a joint venture. “If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, and looks like a duck, then it’s a duck,” she wrote, according to NYT.
Governor Ron DeSantis, who has defended the camp as part of Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown, immediately appealed the decision. His spokesman Alex Lanfranconi said, “The deportations will continue until morale improves.” The governor has also pushed plans for a second immigration detention site in North Florida, dubbed “Deportation Depot,” reported AP.
According to Politico, Florida’s top emergency management official Kevin Guthrie also filed a notice of appeal Thursday night. DeSantis, anticipating the defeat, had earlier accused Williams of bias, “It’s pretty clear we’re in front of a judge who is not going to give us a fair shake on this,” he said Tuesday.
The ruling represents a significant victory for environmentalists. Williams noted that since President Harry Truman’s 1947 dedication of Everglades National Park, every Florida governor and national leader has pledged support for its protection. “This order does nothing more than uphold the basic requirements of legislation designed to fulfil those promises,” she wrote.
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