The court found that the closing of the illegal immigrant detention facility was against the public interest and would cause irreparable harm to the state.
Florida’s efforts against illegal immigration scored a victory on Sept. 4 as an appeals court blocked a federal judge’s order to dismantle the state’s detention and deportation facility known as “Alligator Alcatraz.”
“Victory secured against activist judge who held me in contempt,” Florida’s Attorney General James Uthmeier said on X. “The 11th Circuit not only blocked Judge [Kathleen] Williams’ order to close Alligator Alcatraz, but they blocked her from proceeding with the case until the appeal is complete.
“A win for Florida and President [Donald] Trump’s agenda!”
Last month, the district court sided with environmentalist groups, including Friends of the Everglades and Florida’s Miccosukee Tribe of Indians, finding that the federal government had violated the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) in failing to conduct an environmental impact review before the rapid construction of the facility at the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport.
The district court also sided with plaintiffs, ruling that the operation of the facility was not in the public’s best interest, nor would closing it result in irreparable harm.
The appeals court disagreed with both of these rulings in a 2–1 decision, with circuit court judges Barbara Lagoa and Elizabeth Branch siding with the defendants, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Florida Division of Emergency Management.
Lagoa said the defendants were likely to demonstrate on appeal that they did not violate NEPA or the APA, because the court found no evidence that federal funding had been formally committed to the project.
Although Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem had, at one point, posted on Facebook that the facility would be funded largely by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), talk spread across social media about federal reimbursement did not suffice as a formal action, according to Lagoa.
“Obtaining funding from the federal government for a state project requires completing a formal and technical application process,” the judges wrote. “A governor cannot apply for FEMA aid via press conference … and a Facebook post does not somehow transfer funds … to Florida.”
However, if the state applies for FEMA funding, an environmental impact statement may be required by NEPA at that time, she said.
DHS praised the ruling as a “huge victory.”
By T.J. Muscaro
