MIAMI (AP) — A federal judge on Thursday suspended further expansion of the immigration detention center built in the middle of the Florida Everglades and issued a temporary injunction called the “Alligator Alcatraz.”
The injunction of US District Judge Kathleen Williams officially set the temporary suspension ordered two weeks ago as witnesses continued to testify at multi-day hearings to determine whether construction would be over until the final resolution of the case.
The judge predicted that the facility’s population would decline within 60 days by relocating detainees to other facilities, and said that if that happens, fencing, lighting and generators would need to be removed. She writes the state, and the federal defendants write that no one can take anyone other than those already detained in the facility into their property. This order does not prohibit modifications or repairs to existing facilities. This is “intent to increase safety or mitigate the environment or other risks,” she said.
Preliminary injunctions include those who are actively performing or participating with the State of Florida or federal defendants or their officers, agents or employees.”
The judge said state officials have never fully explained why they need to be in the middle of the Florida Everglades. “But what’s clear is that in a hurry to build a detention camp, the state didn’t consider alternative locations,” Williams said.
Attorneys for the environmental groups that filed the suit, as well as for the state and federal defendants, did not respond immediately to inquiries received emails late Thursday.
President Donald Trump toured the facility last month and suggested that it could be a model for future lockups across the country as his administration competes to expand the infrastructure needed to increase deportation.
Environmental groups and the Mikkoski tribe had argued that further construction and operations should be stopped until federal and state officials comply with environmental laws. Their lawsuit alleges that the project threatens environmentally sensitive wetlands, home to protected flora and fauna, and reverses billions of dollars worth of environmental recovery.
State and federal lawyers argued that although the detention centers own federal detainees, the facility was entirely under the state of Florida, meaning that federal environmental laws did not apply.
The judge said the detention facility was at least a joint state and federal partnership.
The detention center was quickly built almost two months ago at the lightly used single runway training airport in the middle of the Everglades. It currently has hundreds of detainees, but is ultimately designed to hold up to 3,000 detainees in a temporary tent structure.
Inside the large white tent of compounds, rows of bank beds are surrounded by chain link cages. People who are kept there say that insects appear in food and toilets do not flush or flood the floor with fecal waste, but mosquitoes and other insects are everywhere. Sometimes the air conditioner suddenly stops in the swelling heat. Detainees are said to go every day without showering or taking prescription medications, and can only talk to lawyers and loved ones over the phone.
He testified that at least 20 acres (8 hectares) of asphalt have been added to the scene during the hearing since the Florida Department of Emergency Management began construction. They said additional pavement could lead to increased water runoff to adjacent wetlands, spreading harmful chemicals across the Everglades and reducing the habitat of the endangered Florida Panthers.
Amy Castaneda, director of water resources at the Miccosukee Tribe, testified that nutrient runoff from the detention center could flow into tribal land, changing vegetation growth. It could lead to fish killings and prevent humans and wildlife from moving through certain areas, she said.
Highway Safety and Motor Vehicle Director David Kerner testified that the federal government has not told the state where immigrants should be detained, and that the Everglades facility was built to reduce overcrowding at federal immigration detention facilities.
Under the federal environmental law 55 years ago, federal agencies should follow other procedural rules, such as considering how building detention centers will affect the environment, identifying ways to minimize the impact and allowing public comments, according to environmental groups and tribes.
Because federal agencies have authority over immigration, it makes no difference that detention centers with hundreds of detainees were built by Florida.
Counsel for federal and state agencies asked Williams to dismiss or assign the injunction request, saying the lawsuit was filed in the wrong jurisdiction. Williams ruled Thursday that her court was the appropriate venue.
The lawsuit was heard as the administration of the Ron DeSantis, a Florida Republican, was preparing to build a second immigration detention center at the Florida National Guard Training Center in North Florida.
