Appeals court allows ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ to continue operations — for now

By Isabel Rosales, CNN

(CNN) — A federal appeals court has temporarily blocked a judge’s order requiring Florida and the federal government to shut down and dismantle a controversial immigration detention facility built in the Everglades, widely referred to as “Alligator Alcatraz.”

On Thursday, the Eleventh US Circuit Court of Appeals granted requests from the State of Florida and the US Department of Homeland Security to stay a district court’s preliminary injunction that would have forced the site to wind down operations within 60 days. A preliminary injunction is a temporary order put in place until a court can make a final decision in a case.

“After careful consideration, we grant the defendants’ motions and we stay the preliminary injunction and the underlying case itself pending appeal,” ruled the divided three-judge panel in the majority opinion.

The makeshift detention facility had been the subject of intense criticism for its treatment of migrants who had been confined there amid sweltering heat, bug infestations and meager meals, prompting members of Congress and state representatives that witnessed the conditions to demand its immediate closure.

The stay comes about a week after Florida Division of Emergency Management Executive Director Kevin Guthrie said “we are probably going to be down to 0 individuals within a few days” in an email exchange shared with CNN. Guthrie sent the message to South Florida Rabbi Mario Rojzman in response to his request to provide chaplaincy services at the facility.

Despite the controversy surrounding the facility, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is doubling down on immigrant detention centers in his state – including the announcement of two new immigration detention facilities he dubbed “Deportation Depot” in northeast Florida and “Panhandle Pokey” in the Florida Panhandle.

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier called the stay a “victory against an activist judge” in a social media post.

“The 11th Circuit not only blocked Judge (Kathleen) Williams’ order to close Alligator Alcatraz, but they blocked her from proceeding with the case until the appeal is complete. A win for Florida and President Trump’s agenda!”

In a major blow for the plaintiffs – environmental groups and the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida – and their key legal argument, the judges ruled the detention facility is operated by the state, not the federal government, and therefore falls outside the obligations under the National Environmental Policy Act. NEPA, signed by President Richard Nixon, is considered one of the foundational environmental laws formed at the beginning of the modern environmental movement.

“The Facility is a site built, led, operated, and funded unilaterally by a state government—in accordance with the state’s laws—at which the state retains discretionary control over who is detained at the facility, all of which adds up to state control over the project’s outcome, not federal control,” said the majority in the order.

The majority noted Florida could eventually seek reimbursement from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, but until such funding is formally approved, the project does not qualify as a “major federal action” that would trigger NEPA’s environmental review requirements.

A single judge on the Atlanta-based panel dissented saying he would have let William’s shutdown order stay in place in what should have been a “relatively simple denial” of the state’s motion.

The dissenting judge agreed with the lower court that the plaintiffs face irreparable harm and stressed that testimony and official statements showed the detention site was a federal project in practice.

The Department of Homeland Security requested the facility, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement inspected the facility and both DHS Secretary Kristi Noem and DeSantis publicly said the federal government would fund it. That, the judge argued, makes it a “major federal action” subject to environmental review.

Eve Samples, the executive director for Friends of the Everglades – a plaintiff in the environmental lawsuit – told CNN “the case is far from over.”

“In fact, it’s just starting, and we’re committed to fighting on,” she said. “We’re hopeful the preliminary injunction will be affirmed when it’s reviewed on its merits during the appeal.”

Elise Bennett, senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity, another plaintiff in the case, described the ruling as a “heartbreaking blow to America’s Everglades and every living creature there.”

The groups acknowledged in a joint statement that the appeals court decision “at least temporarily allows state and federal officials to resume operations at the detention center.”

“I know many are questioning why the Trump and DeSantis administrations are insisting on pouring millions of taxpayer dollars into this dirty, destructive detention facility in the heart of the Everglades,” Bennett told CNN. “Our legal system can and should stop this incredibly harmful boondoggle.”

The next step, according to Bennett, is that a freshly-selected panel of appellate judges will now decide whether to reinstate the injunction to shut down the Everglades facility or strike it down altogether.

“The mission continues,” DeSantis said in a video statement celebrating the appellate panel’s decision. “Alligator Alcatraz is, in fact, like we’ve always said, open for business.”

The Department of Homeland Security called the stay “a win for the American people, the rule of law and common sense.”

“This lawsuit was never about the environmental impacts of turning a developed airport into a detention facility,” the department said in a post on X Thursday. “It has and will always be about open-borders activists and judges trying to keep law enforcement from removing dangerous criminal aliens from our communities, full stop.”

The controversy around the Everglades ‘Alcatraz’

It had taken only a few days for the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport to be transformed from an 11,000-foot runway into a temporary tent city for migrants when it opened in July.

The remote migrant detention camp deep in the marshy wetlands of the Everglades has been plagued by reports of unsanitary conditions and detainees being cut off from the legal system.

And the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida – a Native American tribe whose reservation lies within miles of the facility – had raised concerns about the impact the facility will have on their land and the environmentally sensitive area, including the plants and animals that inhabit the Everglades.

“The project creates irreparable harm in the form of habitat loss and increased mortality to endangered species in the area,” US District Judge Kathleen Williams said in her order in late August.

Even with the legal battle still playing out, DeSantis said the state is considering other areas to establish additional facilities in addition to “Alligator Alcatraz” and the two new immigration detention facilities. “Deportation Depot” will be able to hold as many as 1,500 detainees, according to DeSantis. It’s unclear how many detainees “Panhandle Pokey” will hold.

“There’s a demand to have way more than just Alligator Alcatraz,” DeSantis said at a news conference Tuesday.

This story has been updated with additional information.

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