Alligator Alcatraz to Remain Open as DHS Appeals Shutdown (1)

The temporary migrant facility in the Florida Everglades known as Alligator Alcatraz will remain open for the time being after a federal appeals court paused a judge’s order to wind down operations.

The US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit on Thursday granted the Department of Homeland Security’s motion to stay the preliminary injunction while the appeal plays out, meaning the government won’t have to dismantle the facility or pause further construction.

Writing for the panel, Judge Barbara Lagoa rebuked the lower court’s finding that the migrant detention center qualified as a major federal action that required an environmental review under the National Environmental Policy Act. DHS only announced it would commit $600 million to the facility, but has yet to finalize that funding, she said.

The US District Court for the Southern District of Florida classified the detention center as federal operation based on statements from DHS Secretary Kristi Noem and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) that the state may one day be reimbursed for the construction, but “such expectancy is insufficient as a matter of law to federalize the action,” the appeals court said.

Judge Kathleen Williams last month ordered the federal and state agencies to halt expansion of the facility and wind it down as attrition warranted, finding the detention center on a former airstrip to be irreparably harming the surrounding the Big Cypress National Preserve.

Environmental groups sued to stop operations, arguing DHS’s US Immigration and Customs Enforcement didn’t offer a compelling emergency reason under NEPA to construct a facility that can hold up to 5,000 detainees in a protected ecosystem.

Williams also prohibited DHS from moving any new detainees to the facility.

But the Eleventh Circuit said the government will be irreparably harmed if operations cease as the case moves forward.

“Federal defendants have established that the district court’s injunction will inevitably compromise DHS’s ability to keep criminal aliens detained, protect the law-abiding public, enforce immigration laws, and maintain border security,” Lagoa said. “We think that is enough to show irreparable harm.”

Judge Elizabeth L. Branch joined the decision.

Judge Adalberto Jordan dissented, stating it is “at the very least plausible to find that the federal government is footing the bill,” for the facility.

“The notion that Florida decided to build the detention facility without a concrete funding commitment from the federal government is squarely contradicted by the pre-construction statements of Secretary Noem and Governor DeSantis,” he said.

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

The case is Friends of the Everglades v. Noem, 11th Cir., No. 25-12873, 9/4/25.