Obama-Appointed Judge Halts ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ Construction in Response to Environmental Lawsuit

A federal judge on Thursday ordered a temporary halt to construction at “Alligator Alcatraz,” a migrant detention center in Florida, as a lawsuit challenging the facility proceeds.

U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams, who was appointed by President Obama in 2011, issued a temporary restraining order blocking any further construction while legal arguments continue over potential violations of environmental law. The 14-day order does not impact the detainees already housed at the facility.

Judge Williams found that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Florida Division of Emergency Management likely failed to comply with the National Environmental Policy Act by not conducting an environmental review prior to opening the facility. She said a written order would follow later in the day.

“I think that evidence is sufficient to support the plaintiffs’ claims,” Williams said on Thursday, pointing to the plaintiffs’ evidence of “ongoing environmental harms,” as reported by Politico.

The project, dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz,” was first proposed in June by Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, who argued the remote location would make escape virtually impossible. The plan transformed a mostly abandoned airfield in the Everglades into a major detention center, advancing the Trump administration’s efforts to expand immigration enforcement.

The federal government quickly approved Uthmeier’s proposal and pledged funding, but environmental advocacy groups immediately challenged the project in court. The Center for Biological Diversity and Friends of the Everglades filed a lawsuit in June, calling the plan “reckless.”

The Everglades, a sprawling wetland covering about 1.5 million acres in southern Florida, is home to an estimated 200,000 alligators. The $450 million-a-year facility was designed to hold 5,000 illegal migrants and foreign nationals in federal detention.

The Trump administration has emphasized collaboration with states to increase detention capacity. In Indiana, the Department of Corrections is partnering with ICE to add 1,000 more detention beds. That facility, referred to as the “Speedway Slammer,” will be located at the Miami Correctional Center in Bunker Hill, Indiana.