U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams issued a preliminary injunction halting further expansion of an immigration detention center located in the Florida Everglades and known as Alligator Alcatraz. The injunction formalized a temporary halt amid a multiday hearing over environmental law claims. The state of Florida filed a notice of appeal. The order bars bringing new detainees onto the property, anticipates transfers to reduce the facility population within 60 days, and directs removal of fencing, lighting and generators once the population declines. Repairs solely for safety or environmental mitigation remain permitted. The injunction covers state and federal actors involved with the site.
The deportations will continue until morale improves, DeSantis spokesman Alex Lanfranconi said in response to the judge's ruling. The judge said she expected the population of the facility to decline within 60 days through the transferring of the detainees to other facilities, and once that happened, fencing, lighting and generators should be removed. She wrote the state and federal defendants can't bring anyone other than those who are already being detained at the facility onto the property.
U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams' injunction formalized a temporary halt she had ordered two weeks ago as witnesses continued to testify in a multiday hearing to determine whether construction should end until the ultimate resolution of the case. The state of Florida filed a notice of appeal Thursday night, shortly after the ruling was issued. The judge said state officials never sufficiently explained why the facility needed to be in the middle of the Florida Everglades.
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