‘Alligator Alcatraz’ Construction Blocked, Detainees Remain (2)

Further construction of a temporary migrant detention center in the Florida Everglades was temporarily halted by a federal court Thursday after conservation groups said state and federal agencies violated environmental law while quickly building the facility within an ecologically sensitive area.

Judge Kathleen Williams of the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida issued a temporary restraining order finding Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Florida Division of Emergency Management likely violated the National Environmental Policy Act in not conducting an environmental review.

The court order stops further work on what the state’s Attorney General James Uthmeier (R) called “Alligator Alcatraz,” a facility on a small airport surrounded by the Big Cypress National Preserve. ICE has already moved migrants into the center and conducted deportation flights. The court order allows detainees to remain there, but bars workers from adding new infrastructure for two weeks.

Friends of the Everglades and the Center for Biological Diversity moved for an expedited court order, arguing the government was working at a “breakneck pace” and judicial intervention was needed to prevent harm to an ecologically fragile area.

Thursday’s court order bars work including paving and light installation while the hearing on the groups’ motion for a preliminary injunction continues next Tuesday.

The plaintiffs’ injunction motion also asks the court to stop the flow of new detainees to the facility.

“It has been a long road, but we are grateful that further harmful construction will not take place until this hearing concludes,” said Tania Galloni, managing attorney for the Florida regional office at Earthjustice.

The Department of Homeland Security rebuked environmental advocates and the ruling by Williams in a statement to Bloomberg Law, saying the order hinders the Trump administration’s immigration agenda.

“This lawsuit ignores the fact that this land has already been developed for a decade,” said Tricia McLaughlin, Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs at DHS.

The airstrip site is more than 96% wetlands and surrounded by federally protected habitats for endangered and threatened species, including the Florida panther, the suit said.

The environmentalists’ NEPA challenge opens a new front against President Donald Trump’s immigration agenda. The Florida Division of Emergency Management took control of the airstrip site in June in coordination with DHS amid pressure from White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller to meet a 3,000 arrest-per-day quota.

Trump visited the site joined by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) and DHS Secretary Kristi Noem in July.

The groups are represented by Earthjustice, Coffey Burlington PL, and the Center for Biological Diversity.

The case is Friends of the Everglades v. Noem, S.D. Fla., No. 1:25-cv-22896, temporary restraining order 8/7/25.