DeSantis Celebrates as Appeals Court Blocks Dismantling of Alligator Alcatraz

Jen Golbeck/SOPA Images via ZUMA

An appeals court has temporarily blocked a federal judge’s decision ordering Florida and federal officials to begin winding down operations at Alligator Alcatraz, the controversial immigration detention center in the Everglades that opened in July. 

As I reported last month^[2], in response to a lawsuit filed in June by environmental groups, US District Judge Kathleen Williams had ordered the dismantling of equipment at the detention camp, such as fencing, lighting, generators, and other infrastructure, as well as a pause on the transfer of detainees to the site. The groups had argued that the construction of the camp proceeded without an environmental review or opportunity for public comment, in violation of the National Environmental Policy Act. But the state of Florida argued that the facility was a state-run operation, and, therefore, federal environmental protection laws did not apply.

Hastily erected in late June on a remote airfield by Big Cypress National Preserve, Alligator Alcatraz has been fraught with reports of malfunctioning air conditioners^[3], scarce food^[4], and rampant mosquitoes. Detainees are held in large white tents, each containing multiple fenced areas with 32 beds and three toilets. State and federal officials running the center have previously stated that the camp would be for immigrants with criminal records, but as the Miami Herald reported in July^[5], many detainees have no prior arrests. In July, nearly 1,000 detainees were being held at Alligator Alcatraz. This week, The New York Times^[6] reported that between 120 to 125 detainees are currently at the center. 

In her ruling^[7], Williams had sided with the environmentalists. “The project was requested by the federal government; built with a promise of full federal funding; constructed in compliance with ICE standards; staffed by deputized ICE Task Force Officers acting under color of federal authority and at the direction and supervision of ICE officials,” she wrote, “and exists for the sole purpose of detaining and deporting those subject to federal immigration enforcement.” Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier promptly filed a notice^[8] indicating the state would appeal to the US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.

In a 2-3 decision on Thursday, the three-judge panel in Atlanta granted the defendants’ request to pause Williams’ ruling pending a future decision on the appeal. The judges found that the detention center did not violate NEPA because it was funded by the state and not the federal government. “Obtaining funding from the federal government for a state project requires completing a formal and technical application process,” the ruling states, which has not yet occurred. Alligator Alcatraz is predicted to cost $450 million a year, and the DeSantis administration has previously stated it would seek FEMA funds to cover those expenses^[9].

Florida officials celebrated the ruling on social media. “Alligator Alcatraz is in fact, like we always said, open for business,” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said in a video^[10] posted to his X account. “We are going to continue leading the way when it comes to immigration enforcement.”

Meanwhile, Friends of the Everglades, one of the plaintiffs in the case, issued a statement^[11] saying that “the case is far from over.”

“While disappointing, we never expected ultimate success to be easy,” Eve Samples, executive director of Friends of the Everglades, said in the statement. “We’re hopeful the preliminary injunction will be affirmed when it’s reviewed on its merits during the appeal.” Talbert Cypress, chairman of the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians, which later joined the lawsuit as a plaintiff due to the detention center’s close proximity to their communities in the Everglades, told the Miami Herald^[12] they were “disappointed in the majority’s decision to stay the injunction. We were prepared for this result and will continue to litigate this matter.”