Judge orders brief halt to construction at Florida's 'Alligator Alcatraz'

The facility can continue to operate and hold detainees for US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, but workers will be barred from adding any new filling, paving or infrastructure for 14 days

A federal judge on Thursday ordered a temporary halt to construction at an immigration detention centre built in the middle of the Florida Everglades and dubbed Alligator Alcatraz as attorneys argue whether it violates environmental laws.

The facility can continue to operate and hold detainees for US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, but workers will be barred from adding any new filling, paving or infrastructure for the next 14 days. 

 

US District Judge Kathleen Williams issued the ruling during a hearing and said she will issue a written order later Thursday.

 

Environmental groups and the Miccosukee Tribe have asked Williams to issue a preliminary injunction to halt operations and further construction. The suit claims the project threatens environmentally sensitive wetlands that are home to protected plants and animals and would reverse billions of dollars' worth of environmental restoration.

Plaintiffs presented witnesses Wednesday and Thursday in support of the injunction, while attorneys for the state and federal government were scheduled to present next week.

Following Thursday's testimony, Paul Schwiep, an attorney for the environmental groups, asked Williams to issue a temporary restraining order that would at least prevent any new construction at the site while the preliminary injunction was argued. 

 

Williams asked Florida attorney Jesse Panuccio if the state would agree to halt construction so that she wouldn't need to issue the restraining order.

She pointed out that anything built at the site would likely remain there permanently, regardless of how the case was ultimately decided.

Panuccio said he couldn't guarantee that the state would stop all work.

This sparked an hour-long hearing about the temporary restraining order, which will be in place for the next two weeks while the still ongoing preliminary injunction hearing continues.

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. 

 

Panuccio said during the hearing that although the detention centre would be holding federal detainees, the construction and operation of the facility is entirely under the state of Florida, meaning the NEPA review wouldn't apply.

Schwiep said the purpose of the facility is for immigration enforcement, which is exclusively a federal function. He said the facility wouldn't exist if it wasn't for the federal government's desire for a facility to hold detainees.

Williams said Thursday that the detention facility was at a minimum a joint partnership between the state and federal government.

The lawsuit in Miami against federal and state authorities is one of two legal challenges to the South Florida detention centre which was built more than a month ago by the state of Florida on an isolated airstrip owned by Miami-Dade County. 

 

A second lawsuit brought by civil rights groups says detainees' constitutional rights are being violated since they are barred from meeting lawyers, are being held without any charges, and a federal immigration court has cancelled bond hearings. A hearing in that case is scheduled for August 18.

Under the 55-year-old federal environmental law, federal agencies should have examined how the detention centre's construction would impact the environment, identified ways to minimise the impact and followed other procedural rules such as allowing public comment, according to the environmental groups and the tribe.

It makes no difference that the detention centre holding hundreds of detainees was built by the state of Florida since federal agencies have authority over immigration, the suit said. 

 

Attorneys for federal and state agencies last week asked Williams to dismiss or transfer the injunction request, saying the lawsuit was filed in the wrong jurisdiction. Even though the property is owned by Miami-Dade County, Florida's southern district is the wrong venue for the lawsuit since the detention centre is located in neighbouring Collier County, which is in the state's middle district, they said.

Williams had yet to rule on that argument.

The lawsuits were being heard as Florida Republican Gov Ron DeSantis' administration apparently was preparing to build a second immigration detention centre at a Florida National Guard training centre in north Florida. At least one contract has been awarded for what's labelled in state records as the North Detention Facility.