From monumental success to environmental nightmare: Judge shocks Florida Gov. DeSantis, President Trump with latest ruling
Florida – Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is fighting back after a federal judge temporarily blocked on the controversial immigration detention center known as “Alligator Alcatraz.” Despite the latest ruling, DeSantis says that the center’s operations will not be affected.
DeSantis wrote on X on Thursday that “operations at Alligator Alcatraz are ongoing and deportations are continuing.” This means that efforts to process and remove detainees would not slow down even after the court’s latest order. Alex Lanfranconi, DeSantis’ communications director, backed up that statement by claiming that the decision “will have no effect on immigration enforcement in Florida” and that the facility will continue to be “a force multiplier to enhance deportation efforts.”
The center is located at the old Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport in Florida and was developed in approximately two months. The site can hold up to 3,000 people in temporary tents, and it has come to stand for the Trump administration’s harsh approach to enforcing immigration laws. Supporters say it is a needed increase in the number of people who can be held, while critics say it was put into service too quickly without a sufficient environmental evaluation or concern for the welfare of the detainees.
U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams said on Thursday that the facility could remain housing people who are being held by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, but she ordered that no more construction could happen for two weeks. The order says that no additional industrial lighting, pavement, filling, digging, or fencing is allowed, as well as no extension through new buildings, tents, dorms, or administrative buildings.
The decision comes after environmental groups and the Miccosukee Tribe sued, saying that the facility would harm fragile wetlands that are home to protected species. They say that the proposal breaks the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), which says that federal agencies must look at the environmental effects of big initiatives before they can go ahead with them. The plaintiffs say that continuing to build could destroy decades of expensive labor to restore the Everglades.
Lawyers for the state of Florida said that the building and running of the facilities are completely under state control and that NEPA does not apply. But Judge Williams said that the project seemed to be, at the very least, a cooperative effort by state and federal authorities because it was used to house federal immigration prisoners.
This environmental lawsuit is moving along, but there is another legal obstacle on the way. Civil rights groups have filed a second lawsuit, claiming that detainees are being held in circumstances that are hazardous, dirty, and inhumane. On August 18, there will be a hearing for that matter. This might make the center’s legal problems much bigger.
Read also: Trump is in ‘silent war’ with DeSantis and Florida Governor’s hands are tied
Operations at Alligator Alcatraz are ongoing and deportations are continuing. https://t.co/UOCfVP1Azy
— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) August 7, 2025
While most of the comments on DeSantis’ post on X were supportive, many X users were critical on Alligator Alcatraz.
“The problem isn’t the judges, it’s you and the rest of the Republicans. You think you’re above the law,” one user wrote. “Wild times at Alligator Alcatraz,” another X user added in the comments while another user wrote “How much of that contract did you get?”
The temporary restraining order will be in place for the next two weeks while the court decides whether to award a wider preliminary injunction. The outcome could not only change the destiny of “Alligator Alcatraz,” but it could also show how far Florida can go in quickly increasing the number of people it can hold in vulnerable environmental zones.
