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Appeals court pauses 'Alligator Alcatraz' shutdown, keeps Everglades detention facility open

Florida AG James Uthmeier calls ruling 'a win for Florida and President Trump's agenda!'

AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell

Work progresses on a new migrant detention facility dubbed "Alligator Alcatraz," at Dade-Collier Training and Transition facility in the Florida Everglades, Friday, July 4, 2025, in Ochopee, Fla.

By: Forrest Saunders

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ATLANTA — A federal appeals court has handed Florida and President Donald Trump's administration a win in the fight over the Everglades detention facility known as "Alligator Alcatraz."

On Thursday, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals put a hold on a lower-court order that had required the state and federal government to shut down and dismantle the site within 60 days. Judges said Florida and DHS are likely to win their appeal, because the project doesn’t yet count as a “major federal action” under environmental law — since no federal money has actually been spent on it.

Appeals court pauses 'Alligator Alcatraz' shutdown

The three-judge panel was sharply critical of the district judge's ruling. At one point, the opinion said it was "wholly unreasonable" to treat politicians' assurances of future reimbursement as proof the facility was federally funded.

Judge Barbara Lagoa — a Trump appointee and former Gov. Ron DeSantis appointee to the Florida Supreme Court — noted that "NEPA is a procedural cross-check, not a substantive roadblock."

Judge Elizabeth Branch, also appointed by Trump, joined her in warning that dismantling the site now would cause "irreparable harm" by wasting millions and undermining enforcement.

Judge Adalberto Jordan, an Obama appointee, dissented.

"The majority, however, essentially ignores the burden borne by the defendants," Jordan wrote, "pays only lip service to the abuse of discretion standard, engages in its own factfinding, declines to consider the district court’s determination on irreparable harm, and performs its own balancing of the equities."

'Deportations are continuing' at Alligator Alcatraz, Gov. Ron DeSantis says

Jordan argued federal involvement — from DHS requests to ICE inspections and promises of reimbursement — was significant enough to require an Environmental Impact Statement.

Florida officials have maintained that dismantling the facility would cost taxpayers $15 million to 20 million and cripple their ability to handle what DeSantis has called an "immigration crisis of unprecedented magnitude."

The majority agreed, warning that without the site, the state's system could be pushed "to a breaking point."

Environmental groups and the Miccosukee Tribe had convinced a lower court that the center risked light, noise, and waste pollution in a sensitive Everglades ecosystem. But the appeals panel noted the property was already a working airport with nearly 28,000 flights in the six months before its conversion.

Read the court's full ruling below:

In a video posted shortly after the ruling, DeSantis declared victory:

"The media was giddy that somehow Alligator Alcatraz was 'shutting down,' and we told them that that wasn't true. There have been illegal aliens continuing to be there and being removed and returned to their home country," the Republican governor said. "We said the mission would continue and I'm pleased to say that the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals has just stayed that ruling and stayed the case."

Not everyone celebrated. Democrats and activists have denounced the decision. State Sen. Shevrin Jones, D-Miami Gardens, blasted the ruling:

"Cruelty is still cruelty, no matter how many courts the Governor runs to," he wrote on X. "Alligator Alcatraz remains an unlawful, dangerous stunt that wastes taxpayer dollars and tramples on human dignity. That hasn't changed — and neither has my stance."

For now, the injunction is paused — meaning the facility stays open as the case winds its way through the courts.

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