A federal judge has ordered the dismantling of major components of “Alligator Alcatraz,” the detention center for illegal immigrants recently built in the Florida Everglades. Judge Kathleen M. Williams of the Federal District Court in Miami also ruled that no new detainees may be brought to the facility, and current detainees must be relocated within 60 days.
At its heart, the Thursday-night ruling has nothing to do with the management of illegal immigrants. The lawsuit that led to the decision was filed the Center for Biological Diversity, the Miccosukee Tribe and Friends of the Everglades, with the three organizations accusing federal agencies and Miami-Dade County of violating the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Specifically, Williams sided with the plaintiffs in concluding that the building of Alligator Alcatraz proceeded without the environmental review required by NEPA.
“[Defendants] consulted with no stakeholders or experts and did not evaluation of the environmental risks,” wrote the 68-year-old Williams, who was appointed by President Obama in 2011. “There weren’t ‘deficiencies’ in the agency’s process. There was no process.” Williams pointed to “a myriad of risks” to the Everglades environment, including wastewater discharge and rain runoff.
Florida’s Division of Emergency Management appealed the ruling almost immediately after it was released. Florida and the Trump administration had argued there was no environmental impact to consider, because there was already an airstrip on the site before they turned it into Alligator Alcatraz. The judge, however, said the transformation of the site was on a scale that dramatically changed the environmental implications. The new lighting, for example, reduced the Florida panther’s habitat by 2,000 acres. “The project creates irreparable harm in the form of habitat loss and increased mortality to endangered species in the area,” wrote Williams.
In a statement issued after the ruling, Paul Schwiep, who represented Friends of the Everglades and Center for Biological Diversity, offered his own depiction of the project:
“The state and federal government paved over 20 acres of open land, built a parking lot for 1,200 cars and 3,000 detainees, placed miles of fencing and high-intensity lighting on site and moved thousands of detainees and contractors onto land in the heart of the Big Cypress National Preserve, all in flagrant violation of environmental law.”
Williams said Florida and the federal government “offered little to no evidence” as to why the facility had to be built in the Everglades. “[It’s] apparent …that in their haste to construct the detention camp, the state did not consider alternative locations.” Florida had argued that the facility is purely a state enterprise, exempting it from NEPA’s environmental-review provisions. Williams, however, said the facility falls under NEPA because it operates with federal funding and direction”
Though it’s a preliminary injunction as the case is further litigated, Williams set a 60-day deadline for Florida and the feds to remove current detainees and to start dismantling critical features of the facility, including fencing, lighting and power generators. A temporary restraining order issued on Aug 7 had already prohibited additional construction, including filling, paving and installation of new lighting and other infrastructure.
Alligator Alcatraz is the first state-run facility that houses people detained by the federal government. Several other Republican-led states have moved toward creating their own versions, complete with similarly creative nicknames. Earlier this month, Indiana announced it had made an agreement with the Department of Homeland Security to add 1,000 beds for illegal immigrants at the Miami Correctional Facility in Bunker Hill — calling it the “Speedway Slammer.” On Tuesday, Nebraska announced plans for a “Cornhusker Clink.”
“This ruling affirms what we argued in court — that the government can’t just build something in the middle of the Everglades and the Big Cypress preserve with no environmental review, and no public input,” said Tania Galloni, managing attorney for the Florida office of Earthjustice. Ahead of the ruling, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis sounded pessimistic about his prospects: “It’s pretty clear we’re in front of a judge who is not going to give us a fair shake on this.”
I know I married the right man when he drove me 3.5 hours to get a picture in front of Alligator Alcatraz!! 🐊🐊🐊🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🔥🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/8q4S0vhY28
— Smow (@2_smow) August 21, 2025
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