Florida’s Alligator Alcatraz, a detention center established to expand bed capacity for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, has been engaged in a persistent legal battle but achieved a significant victory on Thursday afternoon.
‘It is entirely unclear to us, moreover, how the district court concluded that it could order the proactive dismantling of the Facility by way of a mandatory preliminary injunction.’
Kathleen M. Williams, a federal judge in Miami, ruled last month that no additional detainees could be housed at Alligator Alcatraz and required it to be dismantled within 60 days.
In a 2-1 vote on Thursday, a panel of judges with the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in Atlanta blocked Williams’ ruling to shut down the facility. The ruling allows the detention center to remain open.
Environmental groups have argued that the facility, which opened in July and is located in the Florida Everglades, should have been subject to federal environmental reviews.
However, Alligator Alcatraz is a state-operated facility, and Florida has not received federal reimbursements for its operation.
“It is entirely unclear to us, moreover, how the district court concluded that it could order the proactive dismantling of the Facility by way of a mandatory preliminary injunction,” Judge Barbara Lagoa wrote for the majority. “It is wholly unreasonable to conclude from the naked assurances of politicians and lawyers that the Facility is federally funded when not only is the record devoid of credible evidence that a legally binding payment decision has been made, but the record undisputedly contradicts that finding.”
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier called the latest ruling “a win for Florida and President Trump’s agenda!”
“The 11th Circuit not only blocked Judge Williams’ order to close Alligator Alcatraz, but they blocked her from proceeding with the case until the appeal is complete,” he wrote in a post on social media.
Governor Ron DeSantis (R) declared that the “mission continues at Alligator Alcatraz” and celebrated the overturned ruling of “leftist judge” Williams.
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