Appeals Court Rejects Federal Environmental Review for 'Alligator Alcatraz'
An appeals court has decided that an immigration detention centre in the Florida Everglades, colloquially known as "Alligator Alcatraz," will remain operational. The ruling, issued on Tuesday, upholds a previous decision to block a judge's order that mandated the facility wind down operations due to non-compliance with federal environmental law.
Court Majority Cites State Control Over Facility
A majority on the three-judge panel from the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals asserted that the Florida-run detention centre is not under federal control and therefore does not need to adhere to federal law requiring an environmental impact review. The judges emphasised in their written opinion that Florida officials constructed the facility, control the land, and built it entirely at state expense.
At the time of U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams' preliminary injunction, Florida had received no federal reimbursement, according to the appellate majority. Judge Williams had concluded that a reimbursement decision had already been made, but the appeals court paused her order shortly after it was issued last August, pending a hearing held earlier this month in Miami.
Environmental Groups Vow to Continue Legal Battle
Friends of the Everglades and the Center for Biological Diversity, two environmental groups involved in the lawsuit, have announced they will persist in their fight as the case returns to the district court for further litigation. Eve Samples, executive director of Friends of the Everglades, stated, "This fight is far from over. Alligator Alcatraz was hastily erected in one of the most fragile ecosystems in the country without the most basic environmental review, at immense human and ecological cost."
Background and Dissenting Opinion
State officials opened the Everglades detention centre last summer to support President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown. Earlier this month, a lawyer for two detainees alleged in court papers that guards severely beat and pepper-sprayed individuals held at the facility.
In a dissent to the appellate panel's ruling, Judge Nancy Abudu argued that immigration is a federal responsibility. She contended that just because Florida built the detention centre, it does not permit the federal government to abdicate its authority. Judge Abudu noted, "The facility would not, and could not, have been built and used as an immigration detention centre without the federal defendants' request. The evidence of federal control perhaps is most apparent when we acknowledge that immigration remains uniquely and exclusively within the federal government's domain."
