A federal judge has ordered a temporary halt to construction at Florida’s controversial Alligator Alcatraz immigration detention center, putting the brakes on further development while environmental concerns are reviewed. The decision came Thursday after a two-day hearing in Miami, according to advocacy groups challenging the project.
The ruling, issued by U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams, stops activities like paving, installing lighting, laying infrastructure, and filling land at the site for two weeks. However, immigration authorities are still permitted to use the facility to detain migrants during this time.
Judge Williams, who was appointed by former President Obama, is now weighing whether to impose a longer, potentially indefinite pause on the construction. Her decision will likely hinge on how seriously the project may violate the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), a decades-old law that requires the federal government to assess environmental impacts before greenlighting major infrastructure developments.
The Alligator Alcatraz facility located on the edge of the Florida Everglades has been operational since early July and is designed to hold thousands of migrants. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has touted the center as a potential blueprint for similar state-run detention sites across the country.
But not everyone agrees with that vision. Two advocacy groups, the Center for Biological Diversity and Friends of the Everglades, filed a lawsuit in late June aiming to stop further expansion of the facility. They argue that the construction process has ignored key environmental safeguards and poses a significant threat to one of America’s most fragile ecosystems.
Eve Samples, executive director of Friends of the Everglades, welcomed the judge’s order, calling it an important first step. “We’re pleased that the judge saw the urgent need to put a pause on additional construction, and we look forward to advancing our ultimate goal of protecting the unique and imperiled Everglades ecosystem from further damage caused by this mass detention facility,” she said in a statement.
While the legal battle is far from over, the temporary suspension represents a clear win for environmental advocates and a setback for the Biden administration’s successor’s immigration policies. All eyes are now on Judge Williams as she considers whether this short-term pause should become a longer-term freeze on one of the most controversial immigration infrastructure projects in the country.