On Thursday, September 4, 2025, a federal appeals court injected new life into the controversial migrant detention center in the heart of the Everglades, known as “Alligator Alcatraz,” by blocking a lower court’s order that would have forced the site to shut down and be dismantled. The divided 2-1 decision by the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals has allowed the facility to remain open, at least for now, as the legal battle continues to wind its way through the courts, according to reporting from CNN and multiple national outlets.
The saga of Alligator Alcatraz has become a flashpoint in Florida’s ongoing debate over immigration, environmental protection, and the role of federal versus state control. The detention center, hastily constructed just three months ago on the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport—a remote airstrip ringed by the Big Cypress National Preserve and Everglades National Park—was the brainchild of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and Attorney General James Uthmeier. They acted in response to President Trump’s renewed immigration crackdown, using emergency powers to rapidly transform the airstrip into a temporary holding site for migrants arrested by state and federal authorities.
Governor DeSantis celebrated the appeals court’s decision, declaring in a video statement, “The mission continues at Alligator Alcatraz.” He added, “Alligator Alcatraz is, in fact, like we’ve always said, open for business.” Attorney General Uthmeier echoed the triumphant tone, posting on social media that the ruling was “a win for Florida and President Trump’s agenda.” The Department of Homeland Security also weighed in, calling the stay “a win for the American people, the rule of law and common sense.”
The legal battle was triggered by a lawsuit filed by environmental groups—including Friends of the Everglades and the Center for Biological Diversity—as well as the Miccosukee Tribe of Florida. They argued the detention center was built without the required environmental reviews under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the Endangered Species Act. Their lawsuit cited not only the lack of procedural safeguards but also real-world consequences: reports of flooding, pest infestations, sewage backups, and light pollution at the site. The Miccosukee Tribe, whose reservation lies within miles of the facility, raised particular alarm about the impact on their ancestral lands and the fragile Everglades ecosystem.
U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams sided with the plaintiffs in August, ordering state and federal officials to transfer inmates and remove all infrastructure—generators, gas, lighting, and sewage fixtures—from the site within 60 days. In her ruling, Williams, an Obama appointee, wrote, “Every Florida governor, every Florida senator, and countless local and national political figures, including presidents, have publicly pledged their unequivocal support for the restoration, conservation, and protection of the Everglades. This order does nothing more than uphold the basic requirements of legislation designed to fulfill those promises.” She further warned that the project created “irreparable harm in the form of habitat loss and increased mortality to endangered species in the area.”
But the appeals court’s majority, led by U.S. Circuit Judge Barbara Lagoa, a Trump appointee, saw things differently. In the court’s opinion, Lagoa wrote, “The facility is a site built, led, operated and funded unilaterally by a state government—in accordance with the state’s laws—at which the state retains discretionary control over who is detained at the facility, all of which adds up to state control over the project’s outcome, not federal control.” The majority criticized the lower court’s order to dismantle the facility as “overly broad,” suggesting that, at most, a pause on further use or construction should have been considered pending an environmental impact statement, not the “affirmative expenditure of public monies to take it apart.”
U.S. Circuit Judge Elizabeth Branch, also a Trump appointee, joined the majority. The lone dissenter, U.S. Circuit Judge Adalberto Jordan, an Obama appointee, wasn’t convinced. He argued that public statements by both state and federal officials—including the Department of Homeland Security’s request for the facility and ICE inspections—demonstrated that the federal government was deeply involved and had committed to funding the project. “First, the detention facility at the site was built at the request of DHS and used for a federal purpose—to house federal immigration detainees,” Jordan wrote. He also emphasized that the majority had not fully accounted for the “irreparable harm” to the environment, as documented by expert testimony at the lower court.
For environmental groups and the Miccosukee Tribe, the ruling was a bitter setback. Eve Samples, executive director of Friends of the Everglades, said in a statement, “The case is far from over. In fact, it’s just starting, and we’re committed to fighting on.” Elise Bennett, senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity, called the decision “a heartbreaking blow to America’s Everglades and every living creature there.” The plaintiffs acknowledged that the appeals court’s decision “at least temporarily allows state and federal officials to resume operations at the detention center.”
The controversy over Alligator Alcatraz is not just about legal technicalities or environmental statutes. The facility has drawn fierce criticism for the conditions faced by detainees—sweltering heat, bug infestations, and meager meals have been reported by members of Congress and state representatives who visited the site. Florida Division of Emergency Management Executive Director Kevin Guthrie indicated in late August that detainee numbers were likely to drop to zero soon, but the facility’s future remains a live issue. Rabbi Mario Rojzman, who requested chaplaincy services for detainees, was told by Guthrie, “we are probably going to be down to 0 individuals within a few days.”
Despite the ongoing legal and public relations battles, Governor DeSantis is moving full steam ahead with plans to expand Florida’s immigrant detention infrastructure. He recently announced two new facilities: “Deportation Depot” in northeast Florida, which will have capacity for 1,500 detainees, and “Panhandle Pokey” in the Florida Panhandle. “There’s a demand to have way more than just Alligator Alcatraz,” DeSantis said at a news conference, underscoring his administration’s commitment to tough immigration enforcement.
The Department of Homeland Security, for its part, has framed the legal fight as a clash between law enforcement and so-called “open-borders activists and judges.” In a post on X, the department stated, “This lawsuit was never about the environmental impacts of turning a developed airport into a detention facility. It has and will always be about open-borders activists and judges trying to keep law enforcement from removing dangerous criminal aliens from our communities, full stop.”
As the case heads for further review by a new panel of appellate judges, both sides are digging in for a protracted legal contest. The outcome will determine not only the fate of Alligator Alcatraz but could set a precedent for how states can act on immigration and environmental policy in the years to come. For now, the Everglades facility remains open, its future—and that of its detainees and the surrounding ecosystem—hanging in the balance.
