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lite.cnn.com - on gopher - inofficial | |
ARTICLE VIEW: | |
Judge orders temporary halt to construction at Florida’s ‘Alligator | |
Alcatraz’ detention center | |
By Associated Press | |
Updated: | |
4:59 AM EDT, Fri August 8, 2025 | |
Source: AP | |
A federal judge on Thursday ordered a two-week halt to construction at | |
an immigrant detention center in the Florida Everglades dubbed | |
“Alligator Alcatraz” as she considers whether it violates | |
environmental laws. | |
The facility was quickly built two months ago at a lightly used, | |
single-runway training airport and can hold up to 3,000 detainees in | |
temporary tent structures. The site was continuing to be built out, but | |
the order by U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams temporarily bars the | |
installation of any new industrial-style lighting, as well as any | |
paving, filling, excavating or fencing. The order also prohibits any | |
other site expansion, including placing or erecting any additional | |
buildings, tents, dormitories or other residential or administrative | |
facilities. | |
The order doesn’t include any restrictions on law enforcement or | |
immigration enforcement activity at the center, which is currently | |
holding hundreds of detainees. Williams issued the temporary | |
restraining order during a hearing and then followed up with a written | |
order later Thursday. | |
Environmental groups and the Miccosukee Tribe have asked Williams to | |
issue a preliminary injunction to halt operations and further | |
construction. The suit argues that the project threatens | |
environmentally sensitive wetlands that are home to protected plants | |
and animals and would reverse billions of dollars’ worth of | |
environmental restoration. | |
“We’re pleased that the judge saw the urgent need to put a pause on | |
additional construction, and we look forward to advancing our ultimate | |
goal of protecting the unique and imperiled Everglades ecosystem from | |
further damage caused by this mass detention facility,” said Eve | |
Samples, executive director at Friends of the Everglades. | |
A spokesperson for Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis decried the ruling but | |
said it “will have no impact on immigration enforcement in | |
Florida.” | |
“Alligator Alcatraz will remain operational, continuing to serve as a | |
force multiplier to enhance deportation efforts,” spokesperson Alex | |
Lanfranconi said in a statement. | |
The order is temporary, since arguments in the case are still pending | |
Plaintiffs presented witnesses and Thursday in support of the | |
injunction, while attorneys for the state and federal government were | |
scheduled to present next week. | |
Following Thursday’s testimony, Paul Schwiep, an attorney for the | |
environmental groups, asked Williams to issue a temporary restraining | |
order that would at least prevent any new construction at the site | |
while the preliminary injunction was argued. | |
Williams asked Florida attorney Jesse Panuccio if the state would agree | |
to halt construction so that she wouldn’t need to issue the | |
restraining order. She pointed out that anything built at the site | |
would likely remain there permanently, regardless of how the case was | |
ultimately decided. | |
Panuccio said he couldn’t guarantee that the state would stop all | |
work. | |
This sparked an hour-long hearing about the temporary restraining | |
order, which will be in place for the next two weeks while the ongoing | |
preliminary injunction hearing continues. Temporary restraining orders | |
are meant to maintain the status quo during a legal dispute for a short | |
period of time, while preliminary injunctions are generally issued | |
after a longer hearing and last until the final resolution of the case. | |
The legal fight centers on federal vs. state control of the site | |
The crux of the plaintiffs’ argument is that the detention facility | |
violates the National Environmental Policy Act, which requires federal | |
agencies to assess the environmental effects of major construction | |
projects. | |
Panuccio said during the hearing that although the detention center | |
would be holding federal detainees, the construction and operation of | |
the facility is entirely under the state of Florida, meaning the NEPA | |
review wouldn’t apply. | |
Schwiep said the purpose of the facility is for immigration | |
enforcement, which is exclusively a federal function. He said the | |
facility wouldn’t exist if it wasn’t for the federal government’s | |
desire for a facility to hold detainees. | |
Williams said Thursday that the detention facility was, at a minimum, a | |
joint partnership between the state and federal government. | |
Christopher McVoy, a soil physicist, hydrologist and wetlands | |
ecologist, testified for the plaintiffs on Thursday that at least 20 | |
acres of asphalt have been added to the site since the Florida | |
Department of Emergency Management began construction, based on a tour | |
that he took of the facility in June, just days before it opened, and | |
subsequent aerial photos of the site. Tents, trailers and other heavy | |
equipment have also been moved to the airport, which previously had | |
just a few small structures. | |
Dillon Reio, a licensed professional geologist, testified that the new | |
paving could lead to an increase in water runoff to the adjacent | |
wetlands and spread harmful chemicals into the Everglades. | |
A second lawsuit alleges violations of detainees’ rights | |
The lawsuit in Miami against federal and state authorities is one of | |
two legal challenges to the South Florida detention center, which was | |
built more than a month ago by the state of Florida on an isolated | |
airstrip owned by Miami-Dade County. | |
brought by civil rights groups says detainees’ constitutional rights | |
are being violated since they are barred from meeting lawyers, are | |
being held without any charges, and a federal immigration court has | |
canceled bond hearings. A hearing in that case is scheduled for August | |
18. | |
In a court filing in the civil rights lawsuit on Thursday, the state of | |
Florida said that detainees have been allowed to meet with their | |
lawyers for three weeks at the detention center, which opened July 3, | |
despite some initial delays due to logistical challenges in having | |
private contractors build infrastructure and install equipment. Since | |
July 15, the state has granted every request for a detainee to meet | |
with an attorney, it said. | |
“More meetings are taking place every day and there have been no | |
complaints,” according to the filing. | |
Construction, maintenance and operation of the detention center are | |
done by the state of Florida, “without involvement of the federal | |
government,” though the state is granted authority over the detainees | |
through an intergovernmental agreement with federal agencies, the court | |
filing said. | |
Under the 55-year-old federal environmental law, federal agencies | |
should have examined how the detention center’s construction would | |
impact the environment, identified ways to minimize the impact and | |
followed other procedural rules such as allowing public comment, | |
according to the environmental groups and the tribe. | |
It makes no difference that the detention center was built by the state | |
of Florida, since federal agencies have authority over immigration, the | |
lawsuit said. | |
Attorneys for federal and state agencies last week asked Williams to | |
dismiss or transfer the injunction request, saying the lawsuit was | |
filed in . Even though the property is owned by Miami-Dade County, | |
Florida’s southern district is the wrong venue for the lawsuit since | |
the detention center is located in neighboring Collier County, which is | |
in the state’s middle district, they said. | |
Williams had on that argument. | |
The lawsuits were being heard as DeSantis′ administration apparently | |
was preparing to build at a Florida National Guard training center in | |
north Florida. At least one contract has been awarded for what’s | |
labeled in state records as the “North Detention Facility.” | |
This story has been updated with additional information. | |
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