Three judges in the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals late Tuesday upheld an earlier decision to block a judge’s order to wind down operations at Alligator Alcatraz in the Florida Everglades.
The detention center for migrants, opened July 1, can house up to 3,000 in a remote, swamp area near the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport. The 11th Circuit said the District Court abused its discretion when it entered the preliminary injunction.
Environmental group Friends of the Everglades, along with the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida, sued the Department of Homeland Security and other state and federal agencies in June.
The primary complaint was that the federal and state defendants violated the Administrative Procedure Act by constructing the immigration facility without conducting an environmental impact assessment under the National Environmental Policy Act.
The appellate court ruled the environmentalists and the tribe failed to challenge a “final agency action” under the Administrative Procedure Act and also failed to prove a major federal action under the Environmental Policy Act.
While the plan was always for the state to seek reimbursement for the $608 million it cost to build the facility, state officials constructed the immigration detention center using state funds and runs it using state employees.
In a previous court filing, lawyers for the U.S. Justice Department said any potential future federal funding would only cover operational costs, not construction costs.
Second-term Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency in January 2023 for “alarming levels” of illegal immigration in Florida that was causing an “unmanageable strain on local resources.” Alligator Alcatraz was then built as a response and used for immigration enforcement under agreements with the federal government allowing the state to do so.
After Tuesday’s ruling, Friends of the Everglades said in a statement they would continue to push back.
“This fight is far from over,” said Executive Director Eve Samples. “Alligator Alcatraz was hastily erected in one of the most fragile ecosystems in the country without the most basic environmental review, at immense human and ecological cost. We are pursuing every legal avenue available to right this wrong.”
One judge dissented with Tuesday’s ruling, stating there was enough federal government involvement to trigger an assessment under the National Environmental Policy Act. The judge said it was an error to minimize the federal government’s role and responsibility in immigration detention.
The case will now go back to the District Court.