Federal Judge Orders Halt to Construction of Trump-DeSantis 'Alligator Alcatraz' in Florida

A federal judge on Thursday ordered a temporary halt to the construction of an immigrant detention center being built in the Florida Everglades dubbed "Alligator Alcatraz."

The Associated Press reports that U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida has order that all construction at the facility be halted for the next 14 days, although the government can continue to operate the center and detain immigrants there.

The judge's ruling was in response to a lawsuit filed by the local Miccosukee Tribe and some environmental organizations who had argued that further construction at the site risked damage to protected wetlands nearby.

"The crux of the plaintiffs' argument is that the detention facility violates the National Environmental Policy Act, which requires federal agencies to assess the environmental effects of major construction projects," wrote the AP.

Florida attorney Jesse Panuccio, representing the state, argued that the facility shouldn't be subject to this federal law because it is entirely under the control of the Florida state government. However, Williams rejected this argument and said that the detention center was at the very least a joint operation between Florida and the federal government given that it was handling people detained by the federal government.

Florida officials have outlined ambitions to double the capacity of the current facility, according to The New York Times.

Paul Schwiep, the attorney representing the plaintiffs, described the judge's ruling as "a temporary but appropriate pause on any further destruction of a sensitive area, to allow the parties to present their evidence and arguments on the preliminary injunction request" that would potentially permanently halt construction at the site.

The facility was first announced earlier this summer when Republican Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier unveiled a plan to renovate the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport and transform it into a mass detention center for immigrants. During a press event touting the new facility last month, Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis boasted that detainees being held there had little hope of ever escaping given that it was surrounded by miles of alligator-infested swamps.

The center has drawn criticism from human rights groups as well as from Democrats who visited the facility last month. Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.), one of the lawmakers to visit the facility, said afterward that "what I saw made my heart sink," referring to the conditions where detainees are being held.