Judge Considering Proposal to Permanently Shut Down Alligator Alcatraz Construction Project
Alligator Alcatraz Immigration Detention Center Faces Temporary Halt
In a legal battle that has been unfolding for weeks, the Alligator Alcatraz immigration detention center, located within the Big Cypress National Preserve, is facing a temporary halt in its operations.
The center, primarily operated by the state of Florida under the direction of Governor Ron DeSantis and Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, with significant involvement from federal immigration authorities such as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), has been the subject of significant legal conflict.
Environmental groups, civil liberties organizations, and the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians have challenged the detention center’s construction and operation, arguing that federal environmental laws were bypassed. A federal judge, Kathleen Williams, ruled that the facility violated federal environmental laws by skipping required reviews and public input, ordering the state to stop admitting new detainees and to begin dismantling parts of the facility such as fencing, lighting, and generators within 60 days.
Last Wednesday, a hearing on a preliminary injunction to temporarily halt operations at the Alligator Alcatraz immigration detention center began and stretched into Thursday. The groups, including Friends of the Everglades, the Center for Biological Diversity, Earthjustice, and the Miccosukee Tribe, are seeking this injunction.
The hearing resumed at 10 a.m. Tuesday, with several key figures set to testify. Ian Gadea Guidicelli, chief of response at the Florida Division of Emergency Management, and Dave Kerner, director of the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, are on the list to speak about traffic around Alligator Alcatraz. Santiago Fuentes, assistant director of field operations at Immigration Enforcement and Customs, is expected to testify for the federal attorneys.
However, Tierra Curry, a senior scientist at the Center for Biological Diversity, has not yet testified. The Miccosukee Tribe has not yet provided testimony from its members, several of whom are directors of environmental initiatives.
The federal attorneys argue that the Department of Homeland Security should not be part of the case, claiming that the federal government is not involved in construction and operations at Alligator Alcatraz. The groups allege that the Trump and DeSantis administrations have been dodging a federal law requiring environmental review.
The Alligator Alcatraz detention center was built hastily over a month ago on an airstrip within the Big Cypress National Preserve. The Miccosukee have over a dozen tribal villages around Alligator Alcatraz, including a school bus stop 1,000 feet from the facility’s entrance. There is ongoing confusion about who’s in charge and what laws or agreements govern the site.
Judge Kathleen Williams needs the environmental groups to prove there will be irreversible environmental damage if operations aren’t stopped and a high likelihood of winning the case as a whole to issue an injunction. The order was issued to prevent new information on issues like paving or lighting at the site from dating witness testimony as the hearing continues. The injunction would stop the use of the site as a detention center and halt any further construction there until there’s a verdict in the lawsuit.
This situation reflects a complex intersection of state and federal immigration policy enforcement with statutory environmental protections, where the judiciary has intervened to ensure environmental laws are respected despite emergency operational claims by the state and federal immigration authorities. The hearing will continue with several witnesses yet to testify on both sides.
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