A federal decide on Thursday quickly halted any additional development of the immigrant detention middle referred to as “Alligator Alcatraz.”
U.S. District Decide Kathleen Mary Williams granted a short lived restraining order after two days of testimony in regards to the environmental impression of the location.
The state of Florida and President Donald Trump’s administration can proceed to make use of the power and home detainees there, however any additional development should be halted for 14 days.
An aerial view exhibits “Alligator Alcatraz” ICE detention middle 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 momentary order to forestall attainable 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 middle was accomplished with out conducting crucial impression research. The world 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 development on this deeply regarding undertaking. The detention facility threatens land that isn’t solely environmentally delicate however sacred to our folks. Whereas this order is momentary, 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 stated in an announcement.
A spokesperson for Florida AG James Uthmeier’s workplace launched an announcement to ABC Information in response to the decide’s ruling.
“Decide Williams’ order is fallacious, and we’ll struggle it. Nevertheless, it doesn’t shut down Alligator Alcatraz, which is able to proceed to ship unlawful aliens again to the place they got here from,” the assertion learn.
The decide’s determination on Thursday comes after Wednesday’s hearing solely noticed 5 witnesses known as to the stand by the environmental teams that filed the lawsuit, as an alternative of the a number of state and federal officers who had been set to testify.
At concern is the query of whether or not federal and state officers bypassed legally required environmental impression research throughout development of the power — which plaintiffs say ought to block it from getting used as a detention middle.
Attorneys representing Florida officers have argued that the power was initially funded by, constructed and managed by the state and is due to this fact exempt from the Nationwide Environmental Coverage Act — the principle regulation getting used to problem the power’s compliance.
Alligator Alcatraz has to this point operated in what immigration advocates have described as a jurisdictional grey zone — with the power 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 to this point been unable to inform the federal courts who is definitely in control of the power.
The listening to — at which federal, state, and tribal officers are testifying — comes amid heightened scrutiny of the power, 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 tons of of tents, trailers, and different momentary services to doubtlessly home greater than 3,000 detainees.
The ability 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 power threatens to break close by tribal villages.
It is a creating story. Please test again for updates.
