Environmentalist groups and the Miccosukee Tribe of Florida celebrated the late-night decision by a Miami federal judge to wind down operations at the Everglades immigrant detention facility known as “Alligator Alcatraz.”
“What happened yesterday and what we saw from the court is not only a victory for the Everglades, it is a victory for the rule of law and holding government accountable,” said Eve Samples, executive director of the nonprofit Friends of the Everglades, during a Friday morning online press conference.
Environmental advocacy groups including Friends of the Everglades and the Center for Biological Diversity filed suit in federal court in South Florida to block Alligator Alcatraz’s operation in June. The Miccosukee Tribe later joined the case as a plaintiff as they argued the detention site posed pollution risks to their food and water supplies.
The plaintiffs alleged that the Florida Division of Emergency Management (FDEM) and the Department of Homeland Security did not follow federal requirements to perform environmental impact studies before building a detention center in the environmentally sensitive Everglades and Big Cypress National Preserve.
But the state alleged that this project did not meet the standards for federally required impact studies because it was an entirely state-funded facility, and not an act of the U.S. government. Plaintiffs responded by sharing statements from Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem that Florida would be reimbursed for the detention center's construction using FEMA funds.
Ruling in favor of the environmental groups, federal Judge Kathleen Williams issued an 82-page order Thursday night, requiring the state and federal government to cease all construction at the facility and halt immigrant detention operations within 60 days.
MORE ON ALLIGATOR ALCATRAZ
- U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz says Alligator Alcatraz must be shut down
- Court decision to halt Alligator Alcatraz expansion 'a step forward,' says US Rep. Maxwell Frost
- US Rep. Frederica Wilson says Alligator Alcatraz 'should have never been built'
State Representative Anna V. Eskamani, a Democrat representing Orange County, said during the Friday news conference that there are currently around 340 inmates held at Alligator Alcatraz who will have to be moved to other facilities. She served as a witness in the case as she toured the facility and relayed the conditions she saw there, including construction materials and density of people there.
" We deserve solutions as a state that protect people and the planet, not projects that devastate both. We're all committed to continuing this fight into the future," Eskamani said.
Judge Williams said Florida and the Department of Homeland Security failed to do any environmental impact assessments before building up the detention center within the environmentally sensitive Everglades.
“Prior to such construction, however, the Defendants were required, under NEPA [National Environmental Policy Act] to issue an environmental impact survey or conduct an environmental assessment. The Defendants chose not to do so,” Williams wrote.
She noted that the construction of residential quarters, sewer infrastructure and lighting have caused the critically endangered Florida Panther to lose 2,000 acres of habitat.
"Although it apparently lacks basic forethought in many ways, the facility has undergone substantial construction and is currently operational,” Williams wrote. “Under the statutory language, the Defendants cannot put the cart before the horse — they cannot construct a facility and, then only in response to litigation such as the instant case, decide to fulfill their legal obligations."
Curtis Osceola, senior policy advisor for the Miccosukee Tribe, said the construction of Alligator Alcatraz had a profound effect on the tribe's native lands and on its people.
" We are still concerned because the psychic harm, the mental trauma that our children and our young adults are going to have to live with because of the imposition of this facility on their homelands will be felt for generations," Osceola said Friday.
The State of Florida has already filed an appeal to Judge Williams' decision, and plaintiffs expect they will ask for a legal stay on her order. Osceola and the other plaintiff groups said they are prepared to fight this case all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court if necessary.
Williams' order to halt operations is just a preliminary injunction, meaning the lawsuit will move forward as normal and both sides will continue to plead their cases. A preliminary injunction is entered when a judge believes the plaintiffs have a reasonable chance of winning their case at trial.
Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, who raised serious concerns about the construction of the detention facility, joined in the victory lap about the judge’s decision.
“Today's ruling is a victory for home rule and local control and represents justice for families who have endured unimaginable hardship,” Cava said in a written statement. “The human beings held at this facility faced conditions that troubled the conscience of our community and nation conditions that contradict American values rooted in our history that have defined the greatness of our country.”
The facility was built on a county-owned airport property. FDEM seized the land to build the detention center citing a statewide state of emergency related to illegal immigration.
