Judge Stops ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ Build Amid Everglades Environmental Fight
“Alligator Alcatraz will remain operational, continuing to serve as a force multiplier to enhance deportation efforts,’ spokesperson Alex Lanfranconi said in a statement.
A federal judge has slapped a temporary halt on construction at Florida’s massive Everglades detention center, dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz,” siding, for now, with environmental activists and the Miccosukee Tribe who claim the state’s fast-tracked facility is wreaking havoc on a sensitive ecosystem.
A federal judge on Thursday ordered a two-week halt to construction at an immigrant detention center in the Florida Everglades dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz” as she considers whether it violates environmental laws.
The facility was quickly built two months ago at a lightly used, single-runway training airport and can hold up to 3,000 detainees in temporary tent structures.
The order from U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams blocks new lighting, paving, filling, excavating, or fencing, along with any new buildings or tents, though immigration enforcement will continue.
District Judge Kathleen Williams ordered the state to, at the very least, stop installing additional lighting, infrastructure, pavement, filling or fencing and to halt excavation for 14 days. She called the request for the temporary restraining order from the plaintiffs, which represent environmental groups, “pretty reasonable” to prevent further interruption to the ecosystem. The judge, an Obama-era appointee, said the plaintiffs had introduced evidence of “ongoing environmental harms.”
Four activist groups, Friends of the Everglades, the Center for Biological Diversity, Earthjustice, and the Miccosukee Tribe, claim Florida and the federal government skirted the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) by rushing construction without public comment or environmental review.
In a lawsuit, Friends of the Everglades, the Center for Biological Diversity, Earthjustice and the Miccosukee Tribe say the rushed construction of the facility — dubbed ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ by state officials — without public input or an environmental impact statement violates federal law.
Florida officials reject that argument, saying the state runs the site and NEPA doesn’t apply, even though the facility holds federal detainees. Williams wasn’t buying it, hinting she believed the partnership may have been designed to dodge federal rules based on Florida’s attorney Jesse Pannuccio’s answers.
Panuccio said during the hearing that although the detention center would be holding federal detainees, the construction and operation of the facility is entirely under the state of Florida, meaning the NEPA review wouldn’t apply.
…
Williams said Thursday that the detention facility was, at a minimum, a joint partnership between the state and federal government.
Environmental witnesses testified the site’s 20 acres of fresh pavement will send polluted runoff into protected wetlands.
They also warned that endangered Florida panthers could lose more than 2,000 acres of habitat due to lighting, traffic, and noise from the detention center.
Randy Kautz, a wildlife ecologist who helped write the state’s Panther Recovery plan, said because of the bright lights, increased traffic and human presence at the site, Florida panthers would be pushed out of at least 2,000 acres of their habitat.
Activists celebrated the ruling, while Governor Ron DeSantis’ office pushed back hard, saying the pause won’t slow deportations.
“Alligator Alcatraz will remain operational, continuing to serve as a force multiplier to enhance deportation efforts,’ spokesperson Alex Lanfranconi said in a statement.
The two-week restraining order holds while the legal fight plays out, with the next hearing set for Tuesday, the 12th.
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Comments
Panthers?
The freaking 24 foot boa constrictors are the problem
Not the prison
Obama judge enters the race for progressive princess of the year.
What a crock!
“Christopher McVoy, a wetlands ecologist, testified that he received a tour of the area June 28 from the incident commander and said it was clear new pavement had been put down.
Because the wetlands are flat, he explained, runoff or other contamination from the pavement can easily travel like a sheet through other parts of the Everglades during rain or storms and disturb the sensitive ecosystem. The water can rise up to 2 feet, depending on the season, then drag debris from the road into the wetlands, he explained.”
According to ChatGTP
“To be conservative, within Everglades National Park proper, the more relevant figure is around 48 miles of continuous paved road (entrance road plus internal park roads), with the popular 15-mile Shark Valley loop as the most notable feature.”
So…. what by percentage of the current existing paved roadway would these alterations increase the total?
If you can’t construct more buildings then bring in more alligators. They don’t need buildings.
If you can’t make it nicer, make it scarier.
A total BS ruling. Everyone who’s honest knows that the alleged environmental concerns are a transparently pretextual rationalization for this wretched, Dhimmi-crat activist “judge” to stymie the conservative deportation agenda and to vent/exert her anti-Trump/DeSantis animus.
Bingo.
“ongoing environmental harms”
Like the “environmental harms” that were going to be caused by people carrying concealed in National Parks.
Environmental laws are just a socialist ploy to destroy private property rights.
Another “ruling” to ignore. With prejudice.
May I suggest domiciling a number of these3,000 detainees with U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams
The runoff is pretty BS as an argument. The light/noise increase will definitely impact wildlife including panthers…but only temporarily. The sooner the 25 million or so illegal aliens are deported the sooner they can shut down these temporary facilities and stop scaring wildlife.
I doubt it
I was just back from safari in Africa, the animals population is actually up in the national
Parks, where there is an endless stream of jeeps…
7p-6am the animals are left alone, no safaris allowed in the parks
Private reserves may have night time safaris. 2x/week. I went on one…
I saw a Pride with 4 male Lion brothers… blood on their legs, alpha female too
In other words, the animal’s amazingly get use to it
Over a longer term timeline the animals would get more used to the noise/light but not in the short term. Even then it will impact the prey animals b/c they need/want the ‘normal’ quiet with routine sounds to contrast the motion/noise of predators approaching. The predators are impacted both directly (they don’t want light/noise) and indirectly by absence of prey in the area spooked off by the noise/light. The contrast between guided safari tour areas is that the safari area animals grew up with the human disturbance and for them it is ‘normal’. Kinda like deer who show up in some old lady’s suburban yard b/c she’s fed them for decades v deer in a wilderness area.
Prison ships, we have plenty of container ships that can be converted. Park them off the coast of any blue state and the problem is solved.
“Environmental witnesses testified the site’s 20 acres of fresh pavement will send polluted runoff into protected wetlands.”
This is ridiculous..
A quick google tells me the habitat area for these cats is 198,000 acres.
20 into 198k is 0.0001010101%.
In addition, there’s no cougars inhabiting that 20 acres – people are already using that 20 acres – it’s just currently unpaved – they’re not reclaiming swampland – like they did when they built Washington, DC (or my hometown of Syracuse, NY).
As for the hypothetical supposed “toxic runoff” – does it now magically teleport to an alternate reality – or does it currently already end up in the surrounding swamp – like you’d expect?
As for the hypothetical supposed “toxic runoff”……………
I don’t know about Florida, but Texas has a problem with “toxic runoff”. Half of the democrats in the legislature have run off.
Ouch!
Nice!
I remember the cries that the Alaska pipeline would disrupt the caribou migrations and destroy them eventually…. fast forward 10 years or so and you see large groups of caribou shelter under the raised pipeline to take advantage of its radiated warmth (oil is heated for easier flow, I’m told). They are quite OK with the heaters the oil people put in. Those opposition predictions were as specious as the global warming ones we get these days.
Maybe Alligator Alcatraz should put in some slot machines and blackjack tables. The bulldozing of forests and grazing land to build Indian casinos happens all the time. Talk about noise and bright light 24/7. Environmental concerns don’t stand a chance against an Indian attack.
Pretty sure the public input period is for private sector development. It might be possible to skirt around that for national security reasons. This is more like a speed bump in the process.
just keep building
heres the solution:
ok judge ..so we will bring the criminals here and they will not be housed they will stay outside and lets hope no alligators venture onshore
Just a reminder the question is not about detaining illegals before deportation which could be done in any facility the question is did the federal and state authorities go through the proper processes to be in compliance with American environmental laws and regulations regarding the facility in question.
This case is not going to impact deportations in any way shape or form.
Did Eisenhower need a jail in the Everglades to deport millions of illegal immigrants?
The answer being no means even if it is established that the prison is out of compliance with laws regarding environmental protections the deportations will not be impacted.
If Eisenhower could do it Trump could do it and Trump will do it, even if he does it without this facility in question.
“Did Eisenhower need a jail in the Everglades to deport millions of illegal immigrants?”
No, but he didn’t have opposition from 90% of the big cities in the country. He got the support from them he ha the right to expect. He didn’t have to ship the people somewhere for holding where the local s-heads wouldn’t just release them.
That plus the task was far smaller and Truman had already made a bite at the apple. Frankly there’s a way to do it without detention facilities but it would be horrific; find an illegal alien, make double damn sure and summarily execute them on the spot. No need for detention facilities if nobody is being sent there. Seems way too harsh even for me and I’m as anti illegal alien as anyone.
I’ll volunteer for the 12 person firing squad where only two rifles are loaded. That way the squad will never know which rifle actually eliminated the scourge.
However, I will also volunteer that my weapon is loaded every time. I won’t lose a minute of sleep putting murderers and rapists out of commission.
After about 20 or 30 executions, the illegals will be crashing the One App trying to self deport.
Then turn to the employers. Confiscate all of their assets for hiring illegals, Remove their business license, take their homes and cars, confiscate their aircraft, and use the materials to pay for more charges against others.
Then put the business owners in prison for the minimum punishment, applied to each and every illegal they hired. 10 years multiplied by 10 illegals will be a death sentence for all supporters.
There are plenty of facilities Trump could use if he has to order renovations to this one for environmental reasons, Trump didn’t make his signature agenda item depend on a single building complex.
Good thinking, Danny.
Similar to the answer to the burning question, “What do I do when the tree I’m standing under in the rain gets wet and no longer keeps me dry?”
“Move to another tree.”
There aren’t just other facilities in Florida there are facilities all over the country Trump can use and if this Everglades facility is found to be in violation of federal environmental laws and that is exactly what Trump will do.
Trump did not plan a major policy agenda of his around a single facility without any backup facilities in mind.
Even if the case finds ways the facility in contention is not in compliance all that means is it will be shut down briefly to bring it into compliance before being up and running once again.
Oh look another Obama judge ruling the Democrat way!
I used to practice TO and landings at that airport m,any years ago and we heard the same cry back then that the noise would harm the local animals and scare them to the point of infertility. They loved the runway so much a truck would have to run all of the animals off before we could use it! They loved the warm concrete and most of the time there were no planes there. The paved road and lights didn’t bother one single animal.
Knock down a few sections of fence. “Sorry, we can’t put them back up because a commie traitor judge said we can’t.”