An American federal judge ordered the temporary stop on the construction of a detention center for migrants on Thursday, built in the heart of the Everglades in Florida and nicknamed “the Alcatraz of the Alligators”. The judgment takes place while lawyers debate its possible violation of environmental laws.
The center can continue to operate and welcome detainees on behalf of the United States immigration and customs services, but workers will not have the right to add new embankments, coverings or infrastructure for the next 14 days. The district judge Kathleen Williams made her decision at a hearing and announced that she would make a written order later Thursday.
Environmental groups and the Miccosukee tribe asked the judge to issue a preliminary injunction to suspend operations and the continuation of the work. The complaint alleges that the project threatens ecologically sensitive wetlands which house protected plants and animals and that it would destroy billions of dollars of environmental catering.
The prison was built in barely eight days on the tarmac of a disused airport.
Photo : Associated Press / Rebecca Blackwell
The complainants presented witnesses on Wednesday and Thursday in support of the injunction, while lawyers of the State and the federal government must present their arguments next week. Following Thursday’s testimony, Paul Faieplawyer for environmental groups, asked the Williams judge to issue a temporary restrictive order which would prevent at least any new construction on the site during the duration of the preliminary injunction.
The judge Williams Asked the Florida lawyer, Jesse Panuccio, if the State would agree to interrupt the work so that it does not have to issue the restrictive order. She pointed out that everything that had been built on the site would probably remain permanently, whatever the outcome of the case.
Me Panuccio indicated that he could not guarantee that the state would stop all the work.
This has given rise to an hour -long hearing concerning the temporary restrictive order, which will remain in force for the next two weeks, the time to conclude the audience on the preliminary injunction.
The main argument of the complainants is that the detention center violates the national law on environmental policy, which forces federal agencies to assess the environmental effects of major construction projects.
Me Panuccio said during the hearing that, although the detention center is intended to accommodate federal detainees, its construction and its exploitation are entirely from the state of Florida, which means that the environmental examination would not apply.
Protesters oppose the construction of a detention center for migrants, nicknamed “Alligator Alcatraz”, located on the site of the Dade-Collier Training and Transitioning Airport in Ochopee, Florida, July 1, 2025.
Photo : Getty Images / GIORGIO VIERA
Me Swiep explained that the establishment is intended for immigration control, an exclusively federal function. He added that the establishment would not exist without the will of the federal government to set up a center there to accommodate prisoners.
Judge Williams said Thursday that the detention center was at least a partnership between the State and the Federal Government.
Two trials
The trial brought in Miami against the federal and state authorities is one of the two legal appeals brought against the detention center in the south of Florida, built more than a month ago by the Florida State on an isolated landing track belonging to the County of Miami-Dade.
A second legal action, brought by civil rights groups, alleges that the constitutional rights of detainees are violated: they do not have the right to meet a lawyer, are detained without charges and a federal immigration court has canceled the hearings of release under bond. A hearing in this case is scheduled for August 18.
According to environmental groups and the Miccosukee tribe, federal agencies should have examined the impact of the construction of the environmental detention center, identify the means to minimize this impact and comply with other procedural rules, such as receiving the comments from the public.
Betty Osceola, a member of the Florida Miccosukee tribe, is held in the Everglades a few meters from the main entrance to “Alligator Alcatraz” whose environmental ravages of its construction in particular.
Photo : Getty Images / Joe Raedle
The fact that the detention center, which welcomes hundreds of detainees, was built by the state of Florida has no importance, since federal agencies have jurisdiction in matters of immigration, according to the complaint.
Last week, lawyers for federal and state agencies asked judge Williams to reject or transfer the injunction request, saying that the complaint had been filed in bad jurisdiction. Although the property belongs to the county of Miami-Dadethe southern district of Florida is not the appropriate place for the complaint, because the detention center is located in the neighboring county of Collierhimself located in the central district of the State, they argued.
The judge has not yet ruled on this argument. The proceedings were underway while the administration of the Florida Republican Governor, Ron Desantis, apparently was preparing to build a second detention center for migrants in a training center in the Florida National Guard. At least one contract has been awarded with regard to state archives such as the North detention center
.
