A federal appeals court on Thursday halted a lower court order mandating the dismantling of Alligator Alcatraz, an immigration detention facility in Florida. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit granted requests from the State of Florida and the Department of Homeland Security to stay the preliminary injunction, which would have required the facility to cease operations within 60 days. The ruling allows Alligator Alcatraz to remain open as legal challenges against its existence continue.
Governor Ron DeSantis hailed the decision, stating, “The mission continues at Alligator Alcatraz. The media was wrong. The leftist judge has been overturned. Florida will keep leading the way.” Judge Barbara Lagoa, writing for the majority, criticized the lower court’s assertion that the facility constituted a major federal action requiring environmental review under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). She noted that while DHS has pledged $600 million to the project, funding remains unfinalized.
The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida had previously classified the detention center as a federal operation based on statements from DHS Secretary Kristi Noem and DeSantis suggesting potential reimbursement for construction. However, the appeals court ruled that such expectations “are insufficient as a matter of law to federalize the action.”
Judge Kathleen Williams had earlier ordered the facility’s expansion halted and its operations wound down due to concerns about harm to the Big Cypress National Preserve. Environmental groups opposed the detention center, arguing ICE lacked a compelling emergency justification under NEPA for building a 5,000-detainee facility in a protected ecosystem.
The majority opinion was authored by Judges Barbara Lagoa and Elizabeth Branch, both appointed during President Trump’s first term, while Judge Adalberto Jordan, an Obama nominee, dissented. DHS praised the ruling, calling it a “win for the American people, the rule of law and common sense,” and framed the legal battle as a fight against “open-borders activists and judges” seeking to obstruct immigration enforcement.