A federal choose on Thursday quickly halted any additional building of the immigrant detention heart referred to as “Alligator Alcatraz.”
U.S. District Decide Kathleen Mary Williams granted a short lived restraining order after two days of testimony concerning the environmental affect of the positioning.
The state of Florida and President Donald Trump’s administration can proceed to make use of the ability and home detainees there, however any additional building have to be halted for 14 days.
An aerial view reveals “Alligator Alcatraz” ICE detention heart at Dade-Collier Coaching and Transition Airport in Ochopee, Florida, July 24, 2025.
Marco Bello/Reuters
Whereas the listening to was set to renew on Tuesday, Decide Williams granted the short-term order to forestall doable hurt to the delicate Everglades ecosystem within the meantime.
Environmental teams and the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida urged Decide Williams to dam the development web site as a result of the detention heart was accomplished with out conducting mandatory affect research. The realm is residence to a number of delicate species — together with the endangered Florida Panther — and is taken into account sacred to the Miccosukee tribe.
“We welcome the courtroom’s determination to pause building on this deeply regarding challenge. The detention facility threatens land that’s not solely environmentally delicate however sacred to our individuals. Whereas this order is short-term, it is a crucial step in asserting our rights and defending our homeland. The Miccosukee Tribe will proceed to face for our tradition, our sovereignty, and the Everglades,” Miccosukee Chairman Talbert Cypress mentioned in a press release.
A spokesperson for Florida AG James Uthmeier’s workplace launched a press release to ABC Information in response to the choose’s ruling.
“Decide Williams’ order is improper, and we are going to struggle it. Nonetheless, it doesn’t shut down Alligator Alcatraz, which can proceed to ship unlawful aliens again to the place they got here from,” the assertion learn.
The choose’s determination on Thursday comes after Wednesday’s hearing solely noticed 5 witnesses referred to as to the stand by the environmental teams that filed the lawsuit, as a substitute of the a number of state and federal officers who have been set to testify.
At challenge is the query of whether or not federal and state officers bypassed legally required environmental affect research throughout building of the ability — which plaintiffs say ought to block it from getting used as a detention heart.
Attorneys representing Florida officers have argued that the ability was initially funded by, constructed and managed by the state and is subsequently exempt from the Nationwide Environmental Coverage Act — the primary regulation getting used to problem the ability’s compliance.
Alligator Alcatraz has up to now operated in what immigration advocates have described as a jurisdictional grey zone — with the ability funded by the federal authorities however run by the state of Florida — that they allege permits officers to skirt some authorized necessities.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has beforehand argued that the state of Florida is “implementing” the federal authorities’s immigration coverage with the expectation that the state can be totally reimbursed for the prices of Alligator Alcatraz, however native and federal officers have up to now been unable to inform the federal courts who is definitely accountable for the ability.
The listening to — at which federal, state, and tribal officers are testifying — comes amid heightened scrutiny of the ability, which was as soon as touted as a “one-stop store to hold out President Trump’s mass deportation agenda.”
Situated 50 miles west of Miami within the coronary heart of the Florida Everglades, Alligator Alcatraz was shortly constructed over a matter of weeks, using a whole bunch of tents, trailers, and different short-term amenities to doubtlessly home greater than 3,000 detainees.
The power was constructed on the grounds of the Dade-Collier Coaching and Transition Airport, a sparsely used piece of tarmac owned by Miami-Dade County.
Alligator Alcatraz additionally neighbors land leased to the Miccosukee Indian Tribe, together with villages, a faculty, conventional looking areas, and sacred websites. The Miccosukee Tribe joined the lawsuit final month, arguing that the ability threatens to break close by tribal villages.
It is a growing story. Please verify again for updates.
